Bond that can't Bee Broken
by PastelSunsets
Summary: Madeline Taylor buys her first car with the only intention to use it to go from place to place. However, her car has other plans, and makes Madeline's life more eventful than it has ever been before. Rated for Language.
1. Inexplicable

_**This is my first fanfiction story, so constructive criticism is very much appreciated!**_

 _ **The plot I have in mind for this story is pretty much all over, because I combine some of the movies into one story with my own little plot. Some things will be canon, others will be completely different.**_

 _ **Don't like, don't read!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my OCs**_

 _ **Enjoy the first chapter**_

* * *

 _ **Bond that can't Bee Broken**_

 _ **Chapter One: Inexplicable**_

June 3, 2018

Madeline's eyes traveled towards the clock that sat just above the classroom's door for the umpteenth time in the past ten minutes; tapping her pencil against the edge of her worn-out desk to the beat of a song in her head. Her chin rested in her other hand, shamelessly ignoring whatever her teacher was projecting. Madeline had already disregarded the first two warnings to quit the unnecessary tapping, causing the teacher to promptly give up; especially when Madeline stopped responding to her name being called altogether.

Madeline looked at the clock again.

2:32.

Only _three_ minutes left until summer; even if each minute felt like an hour.

Even the ticking was agonizingly slow.

Madeline's eyes slipped close, the tapping slowing to a halt and the teacher's voice becoming faint until it came to the point she no longer heard it. Whatever Mrs. Johnson was talking about didn't particularly matter; last time Madeline checked, she was recalling a story about scuba diving in Turkey.

And just like that, the school bell rang and jolted her back to Earth.

Standing up a little too quick for Madeline's personal liking, she haphazardly shoved her things into her backpack and left the room quickly. She made a beeline straight for the exit, desperate to get out of the loud and rowdy hallway and to ease the brief light-headed feeling.

Summer was now here, but not only that, Madeline was finally getting her first car. Before this, Madeline was getting from place to place only by her bike and her dad's old truck. The idea of it became less and less pleasant as she grew older. Her father had only allowed her to buy her first car if she ended the school year with all A's and a nice attitude towards her younger sister.

It was easy to say, Madeline accomplished the task without a problem because of hard work and pure acting skills.

Aira, said younger sister by a year, was already waiting outside for her. At the sight of Madeline, her face almost split in half with a grin. No, not because she was happy to see her sister after a long day of school, but because she was going to jump at the chance of getting free rides.

But really, who wouldn't?

Both the girls had taken a liking to cars and anything mechanical, similar to their father in that regard, and were pretty eager to see whatever dealership their dad told them to go had to offer Madeline.

"Hey, you ready?" Madeline asked, pulling her sister's attention away from a group of kids screaming about something while adjusting her backpack straps to a comfortable length.

"Mhm." Aira hummed without missing a beat, moving down the school's front steps and weaving her way through the crowd of overly joyous students.

Walking up alongside Aira, Madeline turned right down the sidewalk and the girls headed towards an intersection to cross the street. There were a large amount of students walking with them to their own destination, excited conversations about future plans filling the air. Focusing on one conversation or another was always either amusing or horrifying depending on the people; there's pretty much no in between.

Madeline took a moment to look over at her sister, eyebrows knitting in mild confusion about the seemingly permanent smile on her face. "What're you smiling about?" She asked, voice tinged with a little bit of both confusion and amusement.

Aira's small smile just became wider. "'I'm excited!" She admitted with a small clap of her hands.

Madeline pressed her lips together; it was pretty vague for her to say that, everyone around them was excited. "About?" An eyebrow raised, a noise of disbelief following suit. "Summer? I'm sure you already have hundreds of plans brewing in that head of yours."

"Nope." Aira replied with the shake of her head. "Well, yeah, but nope. I'm excited about you getting a car! I get to see what kind of ugly car you get." She concluded with a smirk.

Madeline made a weird face. "I just need a car to get me through the day." She replied wisely, tucking a brown lock behind her ear. "I'm tired of using dad's old truck to get around."

Aira snapped her fingers. "Point made." Aira knew that Madeline wasn't allowed to purchase a car that was over four thousand dollars.

Apparently _cheap_ meant _ugly_.

Madeline squinted. "You're the type of person that doesn't want to be seen riding around in an ugly car. Aren't you a tad worried?"

"...a tad."

After a while a walking, the sisters slowed to a stop once they arrived at the crosswalk, Madeline leaning over to press the button positioned on the metal pole next to her. Silence fell over them, and Madeline took that time to pull up the directions her dad gave her and to check any notifications she had. The mass of students had thinned out significantly, and now only a small group stood with them at the cross walk, but gave the indication they weren't walking the same way.

Madeline wasn't one to react hugely to things, such as getting a car. Of course, Madeline was more than just excited to finally have her own, but Aira had asked her multiple times why she wasn't having a breakdown, bouncing off the walls or fanning herself like the other girls in high school.

Madeline didn't quite know how to answer that question correctly, so she had just squinted and shrugged.

When the crosswalk was clear, Madeline broke the silence. "You know what's funny?" She asked thoughtfully.

"What?"

"You're turning my age and still don't have a license."

All sorts of emotions flashed across Aira's face before it stopped on her usual frown. "You're eighteen, turning nineteen, and just now getting a car."

"Yet, I've had my license since sixteen. You're turning eighteen and still don't even have that."

"I can't help the fact my driver's ed teacher is shit." Aira waved her hand almost aggressively. "Well, it doesn't matter right now." She said, sounding slightly irritated. "Since I'll be getting rides from you, I can hold off a bit."

A small voice from Madeline's phone told them they were nearing their destination.

Madeline shot Aira a weird look. "Procrastination isn't your forte Aira, I'm surprised." Instead of waiting for a reply, she turned right and walked into the car dealership.

Aira followed with a grin. "This is a different case."

Madeline pressed her lips together again and looked away. Her eyes were drawn to a sign that spelled out the words Bobby Bolivia. This was the dealership her father told her to go to?

"This place looks cheap." Aira mumbled, leaning closer so Madeline could hear. Aira turned slightly and spotted someone in a clown costume, causing her to subconsciously shuffle closer to Madeline. Clowns weren't her thing.

"That might be a good thing." Madeline replied quietly, but Aira picked up the small hint of doubtfulness in her voice despite her attempt to mask it. "Dad recommended it. Actually, demanded it. We gotta trust him, right?"

Aira was a little less confident. " _Right_ …"

Before they could discuss anything more, a dark skinned man stepped out of a small shack to the siblings' right and flashed a toothy grin. Before he approached them, though, Madeline swore she heard him yelling something about a clown suit. "How's it goin' kids? What can I do for ya?"

Aira spoke with a shit-eating grin. "We buyin' a car."

Madeline's eyes narrowed. Excuse her, she wasn't buying anything today.

"Of course you are! You can trust ol' Uncle Bobby B, baby. I got just what you need! Follow me." He beckoned with his hand and moved towards a section of cars.

"Nerd." Madeline whispered to Aira, following Bobby's path.

"Asshat." Aira hissed, jogging past Madeline to catch up with Bobby.

Madeline, on the other hand, walked slowly and made sure to observe and take in every aspect of every car in the rows around her. Bobby's voice became faint as he continued to walk further and further away. A few cars here and there looked like they had potential, but one car in particular grasped her attention.

Madeline looked up to see that Bobby had taken up a conversation with Aira a few rows away about a car that looked like a jeep. From here, Madeline couldn't tell what kind.

Spying the car again, Madeline squeezed through the cars and walked up to the yellow 1977 Chevrolet Camaro that sported black racing stripes. Madeline couldn't help but stare in wonder.

"What're you doing in _this_ dealership, of all places?" She asked quietly, running her hand along the passenger's car door. "Hey, Aira! Look at this one!" Madeline called, beckoning to her sister before rounding the car and opening the driver side door. Sliding into the front seat, it was pretty easy to say her mind was practically already made up.

Just as she shut the door, Aira jogged up in front of the car, the look of surprise immediately spreading across her face. "Woah, this one's nice."

Madeline agreed. This one would be great to drive around. Imagine all the compliments.

Not that she cared.

She observed the rest of the interior, her eyes landing on an air freshener that hung from the rear view mirror. It looked like a bee, and had a sign under it that said Bee-otch.

Madeline snickered and turned the air freshener so Aira could see it through the windshield. She peered out the already-open window. "Hey, Aira. This is what you are."

Aira, who was checking out the front of the car, looked up. It took her a moment, but as soon as she understood it, a frown appeared on her face. "Screw you."

Madeline laughed, then nodded to herself. "I want this car."

"Get it, Maddie." Aira replied, completely agreeing with her choice. "Hey, Bobby! What about this one?"

While Bobby was making his way over, Madeline looked around some more and focused her attention on the wheel in front of her. Using her right thumb, she cleaned the middle of the steering wheel and was rewarded with a strange logo. Huh. Madeline squinted at it slightly. What kind of logo is this?

Bobby suddenly came into Madeline's view, a look of confusion apparent on his face. "Huh, I haven't seen this one before." Madeline and Aira looked curiously at each other. "Manny! Have you seen this car before?"

Manny, another man who Madeline assumed worked here, stuck his head out of the office. After figuring out what Bobby was referring to, he shook his head. "No, boss. I haven't!"

"Find it! It has to be in the records somewhere!"

Madeline poked her head out of the open window again. "So, how much?" Despite the small confusion, she wanted this Camaro.

"Considering the semi-classic nature and custom paint job-"

"Woah, wait. The paint is faded." Aira argued, cutting off Bobby while gesturing to the car.

"Custom faded?" Madeline asked with skepticism.

"Doesn't matter. Five grand." Bobby said with finality.

Aira and Madeline both looked as if their eyes were going to roll into the backs of their heads. "Ah hell. I can't pay anything over four thousand. Dad forbids it."

"It's alright!" Bobby reassured. "There's some beauties over here that are four thousand. I'm sure you'll like 'em." Bobby reassured, leading Aira to an old-looking beetle that was right next to the Camaro, despite Aira's stuttering protests that sounded like 'but you said the car picks the driver' or something along those lines, Madeline wasn't sure.

Madeline blew a strand of hair out of her face in an irritated manner, then moved to open the door. She had to jiggle and tug at the handle before it finally opened. She excited the car and shut the door behind her, but she might have been guilty of putting too much force into it, because the passenger side door swung open and rammed right into the beetle, almost as if it was cued. The sound of the Volkswagen's door creaking and the driver side window shattering made Madeline inhale sharply and her eyes to become the size of the moon.

The dent itself made Madeline want to crawl into a hole.

 _"Madeline!"_ Aira hissed through clenched teeth, giving her the look that said _you're a fucking idiot._

Madeline's hands raised as if she just got caught robbing a bank, clearly frightened. "I'm so sorry! I swear, I didn't mean to!"

Bobby just laughed, but it seemed strained to Madeline. "It's alright, kid. Accidents happen; nothing a sledgehammer can't fix." He reassured. "Manny! Fix this dent. Put it on your list of things to do!" Aira flinched from Bobby's sudden shouting. "Anyways, I actually think this car would be better for-"

Madeline didn't hear the rest of Bobby's sentence, because the Camaro's radio casually switched on, but only the sound of static reached her ears. It started at a low volume. Madeline's head turned to look at the radio, giving it a puzzled and slightly frightened look.

Then, as if someone made the car angry, the volume of the static raised to a very, very, high pitched screeching noise. Madeline's hands flew to her ears, dropping to her knees to shield herself from the window glass that exploded and scattered everywhere. The unforgiving ground of asphalt wasn't very kind to her knees, and one glass shard in particular left a nice, clean cut along Madeline's left cheek bone.

After a moment of keeping completely still in silence, all three slowly rose back up to their feet. Once standing completely straight, Bobby stuttered and held up four fingers.

"Four thousand!"

* * *

June 6, 2018

A few days later, Madeline pulled up to Blue Bonnet Café in her new car, inwardly smiling at the sight of a young lady checking it out.

Blue Bonnet Café was her new job. Eight to two. Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays. She applied for it, got the job, then asked to wait until school was over so she could work without any obstacles. She could have worked during the school year, but realized it would be better not to as more and more homework got piled on. It was a fairly easy job for Madeline's personal skill level, but it paid pretty well according to the informational sheet she was given. Not enough so she could live on her own, but enough.

Even better, her coworker happened to be her best friend, Rebecca, who's been with her since third grade. In fact, Rebecca was the one to recommend Blue Bonnet Café to Madeline.

Pretty much heaven.

It was around seven-thirty in the morning when she entered the café, relieved to see that only a few people were inside. There were some mornings Rebecca told her about that made the café go into panic mode.

She headed straight for the counter, walking through the little swinging door and grabbing her apron off the hook. Tying it around her back, someone flicked her shoulder. Madeline looked up, and was greeted by Rebecca's bright grin. "Hey girlie. Why here so early?"

Madeline rolled her eyes. Seven-thirty was not considered very early under Madeline's terms. "I woke up early and just said screw it."

Rebecca replied with a quiet, 'hah!', then turned to the sink to wash her hands after she finished tying her own apron. Apparently she had just arrived too. "Oh! How was Friday? You took off before I even had the chance to try and convince you to bring me with." Rebecca said humorously.

Madeline grinned at her, then let out a large breath of air. "...interesting."

Rebecca shut the sink off, grabbing a small, white towel to dry her hands. "How so?"

"You won't believe what happened at the dealership."

"Spill. I ain't gettin' any younger."

Madeline smiled, then happily retold the story. Rebecca nodded along, all the while focusing on restocking the coffee cups and other morning tasks. "And that's how I got this battle scar." Madeline joked, pointing to the cut that was sealed and healing on her cheekbone.

"Wicked. That car must've really wanted out of that dealership."

"I wouldn't blame it. Shit's weird."

"Or...you bought a possessed car." Rebecca said with a grin.

"Bet." The word left Madeline's mouth almost instinctively.

"Hey! You never know. I'll have to come check it out and see for myself."

"Whatever you say, 'Becca." Madeline said with exasperation.

Were possessed cars a thing?

Unlikely.

Rebecca sniggered before walking to the register to take someone's order. Madeline squatted down to grab a spray bottle and a rag to clean the tables that had already been previously used by customers. Moving out from behind the counter, she did just that.

While wiping down a table that was located near the corner of the cafe, Madeline looked up at the TV. She couldn't hear it, but the TV showed a newswoman speaking with a picture to her left that showed something that looked like a large robotic hand; blocky words popped up at the bottom of the screen to translate what the woman was saying.

Rebecca joined Madeline in the corner as soon as the customer from before was taken care of, and made sure no others were waiting to have their order taken. "What're you looking at so intensely that made you stop working for once?" She asked jokingly, referring to the fact Madeline never went to parties during the school year because she always said homework comes first.

Madeline pointed, clearly interested in the TV. "Look."

Rebecca looked at the screen, eyes squinting.

They were talking about an alarming increase in the amount of Transformers that people have been claiming to see around the world. Most reports were from the USA.

After reading the text for a solid few minutes, Rebecca sighed. "To be completely honest, I'm not that surprised."

Madeline nodded slowly. "I'm not either."

Rebecca scoffed. "According to anybody I talk to, this is, what? Their fourth time on Earth?"

Madeline made a thoughtful noise. What if they never left? "I think, I'm not sure though. Luckily they haven't caused any damage."

 _"Yet."_ Rebecca pointed out, waving her index finger.

"Yet." Madeline repeated, smiling. "They just keep popping up. They'll disappear for a while and then the reports of sightings come rolling in. It's weird."

"Now that I think about it, you're right." She paused. "Let's hope they don't mess with Texas, hmm?" Rebecca commented with a wink, elbowing Madeline's arm.

"You never know." Madeline replied with a shrug.

Rebecca then grabbed Madeline's hand, grinning. "Woah," she stopped for a moment to laugh at Madeline's surprised expression. "What if your demon car was a Transformer!" She said excitedly, but quiet enough so she didn't disturb the people around them. "It would have the perfect hiding place in your huge ass barn-garage thing since you live on what looks like an old farm."

Madeline made a face. "I don't live on an old farm, 'Becca. But I guess it would be... _cool_."

Rebecca gave Madeline a look of disbelief, shoulders sagging. "Are you kidding? Personal bodyguard? Sign me up."

Madeline couldn't help but laugh at her friend. "That's great Rebecca. Now get back to the register before we both get fired." She grabbed Rebecca's shoulders and spun her around.

Rebecca leaned into her friend's hands when Madeline attempted to push her back to the counter. "Whaddya mean? Tod already took my spot." She pointed.

"Sure, but employees shouldn't stand around talking about robotic aliens, hmm?" Madeline reasoned quietly.

"Yeah, yeah. I know." Rebecca stood, walking back to the counter with Madeline. "So, are you going to that lake party Thursday?"

"I was planning on it. I'm assuming Aira will be wanting to go."

"Aw, Aira. She's so sweet." Rebecca said, pushing her cheeks up with her hands.

"Right." Madeline said slowly, internally and automatically disagreeing.

After a moment, the two girls burst into a fit of laughter, unfortunately gaining the attention of some customers.

* * *

After Madeline's shift ended at it's set time, she shed her apron, hung it on the hook, and exited the café with a wave of goodbye to the remaining employees. She headed down the sidewalk to arrive back at her car. Walking into the street to get to the driver door, she pulled out her keys and promptly unlocked the car.

Madeline slipped into the front seat, closing the door behind her, and let her head fall back against the headrest. She groaned. The café got way busier as soon as the clock struck ten.

She barely spoke a word to Rebecca after that, except for a few short comments about two good looking guys that entered the café.

Lifting her head, Madeline gave a tired smile. "Miss me?" She asked the car, sounding jokingly hopeful as she stuck the key into the ignition. The car roared to life, as well as the radio.

 _"-ain't no sunshine when she's gone-"_

Madeline smiled. "That's an old one," She murmured to herself.

With that, Madeline pulled away from the sidewalk and headed home, both humming and singing quietly along with the song the entire way.

* * *

June 9, 2018

To be completely honest, Madeline wasn't very thrilled that her father forced her to take Aira to the party; she didn't even really feel the motivation to go anymore. Even Aira said she didn't really want to go, but ' _sister bonding was important'_ , Madeline had mocked. Though, she hoped that once they got there, Aira would leave to do her own thing.

Hopefully.

Another thing, a lot of people would be there. It's going to take Madeline forever to find Rebecca.

Walking outside and stopping next to the car, Madeline leaned against the driver's door while waiting for Aira to come out. She sent a quick text to her sister, telling her to hurry up in a not-so-polite manner. She didn't come out long after.

She jumped down the porch steps, seeming eager to get away from the house, or their dad. Speaking of which, he appeared in the doorway.

"I want you two home by at least eleven!" He demanded.

Madeline grinned and checked her phone for the time. 7:31. "Okay, okay. I promise." She replied, giving a brief thumbs up.

As soon as Aira neared her sister, she made an attempt to snatch the keys she was loosely holding on to. Madeline just lifted the keys high in the air so she couldn't reach them. "Can I drive?"

"What did we discuss last Friday? You don't have your license." Madeline reminded coldly.

Aira threw her hands in the air. "I'm workin' on it!"

"Work harder." She replied simply. "And even if you did, I'm not going to risk the chance of you crashing my car." Madeline continued, speaking matter-of-factly.

"There would be no way I'd crash this car." Aira concluded, amazed as she ducked into the passenger seat.

"Yeah, because you wouldn't be driving it." Madeline replied, laughing at Aira's sour expression.

The trip to the lake was short and sweet, meaning Aira didn't complain anymore.

Fifteen minutes later, Madeline pulled into an empty parking spot and made a noise that was a mix between a sigh and a groan. She turned the key to shut off the car. "Remind me why we're here again." She said, already regretting coming as soon as she saw a certain group of people.

Aira looked at Madeline as if she said the dumbest thing in the world. "Because! If you don't come to this party, you're not cool." Aira explained.

Madeline looked at Aira like the characters in the Office would look at the camera. The explanation itself sounded stupid. "Is that what kids are telling you these days?" Aira remained quiet. "You need new friends. Actually, correction," she held up a finger. "You need friends."

Madeline smirked at Aira's offended look. "One point for big sister." She whispered, tone prideful as she pointed at herself for emphasis.

Aira flipped Madeline off. "Whatever, asshole." Aira snapped.

Madeline's eyes narrowed at the rude gesture. "I'll tell Dad you were the one that broke the fountain out front." Madeline instantly threatened, successfully bringing out her pettiness.

Aira's eyes went as wide as plates. "No! Please!"

Madeline just laughed. "Get out of my car. Go drool over Chad with your friends or something. I'm going to take a look at the car."

"Chad?" Aira repeated, face distorted in a look of disgust. It took her a moment before she registered what Madeline said. "Wait, what? Why?"

Madeline had already popped the hood and exited the car before Aira had asked her short questions, causing Aira to follow. Madeline stopped in front of the car, one hand on the hood. "The radio's been acting funky, as well as the driving itself. I'm sure it's not a good sign of the car's physical state. I'm gonna see if I need to fix anything."

It was true. The past couple of days Madeline noticed the radio switching on or changing stations from time to time, and the driving being jumpy and noises being produced that sounded like sputtering. However, the car didn't do it enough to make it very alarming.

"Right, right." Aira agreed distractedly.

"Go away, Smalls. You're a pain in my ass." Madeline ordered, using her hand to shoo her away. Aira was obsessed with the movie _The Sandlot_ , earning her the nickname.

"See ya, punk." Aira gave a sloppy salute and jogged off to meet up with a friend who hailed her over.

Madeline pushed the hood upwards and set the stand in place. Looking down, Madeline's eyes widened. The engine was impressive to say in the least; a high-rise double-pump carburetor. _Well, this is interesting._

Everything seemed perfectly fine, but of course, Madeline was not a professional mechanic. Backing up, she let the stand down and closed the hood just as someone approached her.

"Hey, Maddie." Madeline nearly jumped at the suddenness of the newcomer's voice and spun around to see Jacob, the boy who's had a crush on her for who knows how long. "What're you doing over here?" As they both grew older, Jacob became more and more confident with himself. From the beginning in third grade, he was a shy kid that only ever smiled at her.

"Avoiding you." She replied simply, her response only being half true. Unconsciously, Madeline was gradually leaning back onto the hood to make the space between them bigger.

"Aw, don't be like that. Why don't you come hang with us?" Jacob tried to persuade.

"I'm fine, I'll pass." Madeline spoke quickly and with a fake grin. Please, go away. She turned and walked away, feeling uncomfortable with his proximity. She headed towards the back of car, knowing she left a water bottle back there. It was hot; even in the evening.

"Feisty today." Jacob said with interest. "Did you get enough sleep last night?"

Madeline opened the driver's door and pushed the seat forward, reaching in the back to grab the bottle. "Is that really an important question?" Madeline asked, unscrewing the cap to take a drink. After a drink, she put the seat back and closed the door.

Jacob just grinned and shook his head, then tried to walk closer to Madeline. However, he didn't get far, because the driver side door swung open and rammed into the upper half of Jacob's body.

"Ah, shit!" Jacob cursed, clutching his stomach.

 _"Oops! I did it again-"_ The radio spoke again, but quietly. Madeline figured it was probably referring to when the car's door swung open and hit the Volkswagen. If cars could even register what they do.

Madeline threw the bottle into the front seat and shut the door, approaching Jacob. "Oh, I'm so- are you okay? I'm sorry!" Madeline may not have liked him, but she wasn't a bitch.

Jacob looked up, gripping the top of the car. "What's up with your car?" He asked, partly out of breath.

"It's...old." Madeline tried to reason. "It has a few... _malfunctions_..."

"Saying it has malfunctions would be an understatement. This thing works on it's own." Jacob retorted, letting go of the car. Standing straight, his head turned when his name was called by one of his buddies. Giving one last overlook of both Madeline and the car, he turned and walked away.

Madeline groaned and looked at the car, eyes landing on the radio. She was both grateful and weirded out.

Before anything else, however, Aira came jogging over, face flush from what Madeline guessed to be embarrassment. "What's wrong?"

"We have to leave." Aira said quickly, already in the passenger seat.

"Well, I'm not objecting to that." Madeline replied, dumbfounded. Too bad though, she didn't even get to see Rebecca.

"May embarrassed me. We gotta go." Aira said, leg bouncing up and down.

Madeline leaned down and looked at her sister through the window, arms resting on the door. "Mouse."

 _"Get in the car."_

She complied. "Okay, okay." Madeline said, obviously amused. Strapping herself in and turning the car on, she looked to her left and squinted. A girl was walking down the road, away from them and the party. "Hey, is that Rebecca?" If it was, Madeline knew she was walking home.

Aira leaned forward to see out the window past Madeline's head.

"Let's drive her home." Aira suddenly spoke.

Madeline's head turned to look at Aira, surprised at the suggestion. "Huh?"

"She lives ten miles from here." Aira desperately reasoned.

"I know." Madeline said slowly.

"Maddie, please. Just go get Rebecca." Aira pleaded, trying her best at puppy dog eyes.

Madeline scoffed in return. "Fine. But only because I take pity on you." She replied after a moment of debating, purely just to torture her sister.

"Yes!" Aira said cheerfully.

Madeline never said she didn't want to pick up Rebecca, however there was a chance she already called for a ride. Still, it was worth a shot. Aira had this weird attraction to Rebecca, in a sense that Aira looked up to her. Maybe it was because Rebecca could sing really well; if she wanted to, of course.

Rebecca had her moments.

Madeline pulled out of the parking spot and turned, driving up next to Rebecca.

"Yo, need a ride?" Madeline asked nonchalantly.

Rebecca's head turned, instantly grinning as soon as she registered who was talking to her. "Hey! You are here!"

"Yeah, but Miss Prissy over here wanted to leave." Rebecca laughed at the nickname. "Are you leaving?"

"Yeah. Aaron was being a jackass and ruined my mood." Rebecca explained, grin fading.

"Then get in loser."

Rebecca headed towards Madeline's door, but Aira suddenly piped up. "Hey! Do you want the front seat?"

Rebecca shook her head. "I'm fine, girlie." There was a small exchange of moving around in seats, before Rebecca finally landed herself in the back. Strapping herself in, she looked around. "So, this is the new car."

"Mhm." Madeline began.

"Ooh, bitch. I knew this car looked familiar." Rebecca said fondly. A few days ago Madeline had snapped a picture of the car and sent it to her.

Madeline smiled. "Few kinks here and there, but runs great."

Rebecca grinned. "I can tell, the driving is nice."

Madeline snickered. That wasn't always the case.

As the conversation continued, Aira looked out the window. Well, her attempt at talking to Rebecca failed. Sighing, she almost missed when the radio turned on and very quietly played Akon's song, _Lonely_.

Aira suddenly had the urge to punch the car's dashboard.

* * *

 _ **Well, that's all for now!**_

 _ **No action just yet, of course.**_

 _ **Just for a better picture-**_

 _ **Madeline looks like Maia Mitchell  
**_ _ **Aira looks like Elizabeth Olsen  
**_ _ **Rebecca looks like Mikaela Long**_

 _ **Hope you enjoyed!**_

 ** _ **\- Pastel**_**


	2. Equally Scared

_**Yay, two chapters within a week!**_

 _ **There's a lot of fighting between Aira and Madeline, and it's based off how I would assume sisters sometimes fight. I'm an only child, so I have no idea, heh.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OCs.**_

 _ **Well, enjoy!**_

 _ **-Pastel**_

* * *

 _ **Bond that can't Bee Broken**_

 _ **Chapter 2: Equally Scared**_

June 11, 2018

A little earlier that day, Madeline had pulled the car out of the barn and into the gravel. She was eager to get the car washed, yet desperately wanted to sit in the house and forget about the chore altogether. The car had probably been sitting out in the sun for at least an hour while Madeline was busy sitting on the couch, debating with herself about what good would come out of washing the car.

Somehow during the night, the car managed to get dirty in more ways than one. Well, the barn of course wasn't the cleanest of places, but Madeline didn't understand how it got that dirty.

Finally forcing herself to get up, she changed into a yellow short-sleeved shirt and jean shorts, proceeding to walk outside with arms full of cleaning supplies from the house. She loosened her grip on them and watched them fall into the grass. Turning on her heel, she walked to the side of the barn and turned on the hose.

Madeline wanted to get her car clean, but also wanted to get it over with. Cleaning cars was always a chore.

Spraying the car with the cold water, Madeline turned at the sound of the screen door to the house opening and closing. She turned. "Aira?"

"I hate you." Aira hissed with narrowed eyes.

 _Woah, aggressive._ Madeline assumed she was referring when Rebecca paid almost no attention to her. That was...two days ago? Last time Madeline checked, she hadn't talked to her since then.

Madeline weighed her options, nodding as she squatted down to grab a sponge from the soap bucket she prepared earlier. "Somewhat understandable."

Aira frowned at her sister's unwillingness to take the situation seriously. Apparently Aira had really wanted to chat with Rebecca. "I can't believe you; you ruined everything!"

Madeline looked over her shoulder, scrubbing at the tires. "Did I now? Well I can't help the fact my best friend wanted to talk to me instead of you." She replied calmly, knowing very well she was testing the boundaries. But really, Aira was a seventeen year old girl, acting like a toddler arguing over a dropped lollipop.

Aira's hands balled into fists. "Oh, you...you're so..." Her voice was breathy.

Madeline stood, wringing out the sponge over the hood of the car. "So...what? Say it, I _dare_ you." Madeline challenged, knowing full well she could take Aira out in a heartbeat.

"...I hate you."

Madeline rolled her eyes. "Then why are you here?" She asked, scrubbing the sponge harder in a particular spot.

"To hang out with you." Aira said, her tone sounding less angry.

Madeline gave her a confused look. "But you just said-"

 _"I know what I said."_ Aira said quickly, cutting her off. "I'm hanging out with you because I'm forced to love you. Plus, none of my friends are free today."

Madeline touched her chest, creating a wet hand print on her shirt. "I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me." She said, fake admiration in her voice.

"Don't get used to it."

Madeline laughed. "Alright, brat. If you want to hang out, you have to help."

"What do I do?"

"Grab a sponge and start cleanin' him up. What else?" Madeline ordered, emphasizing her words by wringing out the sponge again, but this time on top of the roof.

 _"Him?"_ Aira questioned, leaning down to grab a sponge from the cold water in the bucket.

"I'm being imaginative. Ya know, men call their boats women." Madeline reasoned without looking at her sister. She moved to the back windows.

"...alright." Aira said slowly, heading over to the headlights. After a moment of tough scrubbing, Aira made a noise of disappointment at her work. "Who knew a car could get this dirty." She mumbled to no one in particular.

Madeline popped up from behind the car. "At least it's not as dirty as your room." She teased, cleaning the back license plate.

Aira shot up from her stiff crouch. "You haven't been in my room in like, a year!" She quickly defended herself, pointing accusingly at Madeline.

"I don't have to be in your room to know it's dirty, I can smell it from here!" Madeline exaggerated, directing her statement to the window to Aira's room.

Just like that, the radio from the car that was quietly playing switched stations and played a song that related to their argument. _"My girl don't want me 'cause of my dirty laundry-"_

Aira looked offended and confused. "What?"

The song continued to play.

While Aira looked a little pissed, Madeline was struggling to breathe from laughing too hard. _I'm easily amused,_ she realized. "Even the car agrees, Aira."

"That doesn't even make sense. You're losing your mind." Aira growled. How the car even managed to play music while being off was strange, but that didn't seem to be the topic of their conversation right now. Also since it's happened before, it didn't phase them as much.

"No, Aira, I'm right. Clean your damn room." Madeline said as she walked towards the front of the car, speaking in her best _I-am-your-older-sister-and-I-am-superior_ voice.

Instead of shooting back a rude remark, Aira practically dove for the discarded hose in the grass and sprayed the cold water in Madeline's direction.

Madeline automatically dropped behind the car, shielding her face. Once the spray stopped, Madeline stayed crouched but glared at her reflection in the hubcap of the front, left tire. "Asshole, now I'm going to have to change."

"When have you ever washed a car and didn't get wet?" Aira asked with skepticism, tossing the hose back into the grass. She took a moment to glare at the radio, which was still quietly playing.

Madeline stood once she was sure the coast was clear. "When you're not helping me. I'm skillful in this area."

Aira gave a nod of fake agreement. _"Bet."_

Madeline didn't bother replying, and just continued cleaning the car. Neither sibling would admit it, but their arms were slowly starting to get tired. What even happened to this car? It might as well have gone through dirt hell and back.

Aira, who had gone back into a crouch to clean the bottom of the passenger door, stood and raised her arms above her head in a stretch. "Ah, why didn't you just take the car to the car wash downtown?"

"They raised their prices." Madeline grumbled.

Aira let out a short, forced laugh. "Is that why you're being such a bitch?"

Madeline looked up at her sister who was directly across from her, the hood being the only thing separating them. Aira opened her mouth to say her famous _"what?"_ phrase, but Madeline jumped forward and used her hands to help her momentum to slide across the slippery hood.

Using the momentum, she body slammed Aira and tackled her into the grass.

Madeline had never heard Aira scream that high before.

* * *

After fighting, bickering or not even speaking to each other at all, their father had had enough of it.

Their dad almost blew a gasket when Aira said something snarky to Madeline that she couldn't even remember, but reacted by grabbing the back of her head and slamming her forehead on the table.

Both were sent to the room, and when they came out, it didn't end there.

He called the whole thing childish, and practically demanded they get out of the house and do something together to make up and forget about whatever shit they were fighting about. The sisters fought tooth and nail about that too, and their dad looked about ready to bang his head against a wall. Though, they stubbornly agreed to go see a horror movie together at a drive-in theater.

They didn't even check to see what they were going to watch, they just...went.

In the end, the sisters almost forgot why they were fighting in the first place.

Yay, sisterhood.

After driving around in circles forever, they found what seemed like the best place to see the screen; Madeline turned the key and pulled it out of the ignition.

"So. Popcorn?"

The line was aggravatingly long, and the smell of salty butter was almost overwhelming. Two kids behind the sisters were chatting pretty loudly about how excited they were to see the movie. Wait, children? After standing around and noticing how many people were actually at the drive-in theater, Madeline and Aira soon realized they came to see a movie that literally just came out.

"What's this movie about again?" Aira whispered, and Madeline gave an ashamed shrug.

Once they obtained the desired junk food, they quickly exited the scene and retreated to the Camaro. When they were settled, it didn't take long for the movie start.

It started out just as a horror movie would, everything seemed perfectly fine. And about ten minutes into the movie, Madeline grew tired of twisting and turning in the leather seat. "Screw this, I'm sitting on the hood." She whispered, opening the car door.

"No! You'll dent it!" Aira hissed after taking a sip of coke.

"What're you trying to say?" Madeline asked, leaning down to look at Aira.

Aira gave a forced grin. "Nothing."

She smiled back. "Good." Madeline shut the door and slid on top of the hood with the bag of popcorn, back resting against the windshield.

Not even a minute after she got comfortable, Aira noticed she took the only bag of popcorn and hastily opened the door. Instead of asking for it back, Aira mumbled a request. "Can I sit with you?"

"Sure. But get popcorn anywhere and I will _literally_ end you."

Aira ignored the threat like it was nothing and sat next to Madeline, who sat the bag of popcorn between them. They remained quiet and in that position for almost the entire movie. Every once in a while, something gross looking would appear, and the sisters' would see whoever could say _"that's you"_ first.

They were starting to get along again.

Until a jump scare came up.

Aira had taken the bag of popcorn for herself when the movie was about halfway through and Madeline claimed she was done, when a particularly loud monster-thing jumped at the screen. Madeline herself jumped in her place, and a scream erupted from Aira as well as a few others around them.

And popcorn erupted from the bag.

It took Madeline all the willpower she had to refrain from screaming and calling Aira any sort of insult right then and there. It was hard enough just to keep herself from shoving Aira off the hood.

When the girls got home, Madeline chased Aira around in the large open space they had for about ten minutes.

* * *

June 14, 2018

 _"Madeline?"_

 _"What's up?"_

 _"My parents are mad at me again. Want to go get smoothies around one?"_

 _"Again? What did you do?"_  
 _"I may or may not have microwaved a Capri Sun but that's not important."_

 _"Rebecca!"_

 _"It was frozen and a hoe was thirsty."_

 _"Whatever you say. One work for you?"_

 _"Yep! See you then."_

 _"Bye, freak."_

* * *

Madeline spent her time awaiting Rebecca's arrival in the barn, organizing her dad's tools since her father spent most of his time complaining about them being everywhere.

Yeah, he swore he'd do it sometime soon, but Madeline was getting tired of his bitching.

Aira was off doing who knows what, leaving Madeline alone while her father was at work. Madeline found it strange that she could hate Aira to the ends of the Earth, but as soon as she's gone, she felt as if she was missing something.

She had to constantly blow dust off of things and search for who knows how long for the right compartment the tools went in. Luckily, Madeline was fairly familiar with the barn and where things were. Really, she believed that she was in the barn more than her father was. Though, there were some things that she put in the back of her dad's truck for him to put away on his own.

A small radio on her dad's work bench was on and playing music as Madeline worked, sometimes getting her to quietly sing along with the words. And if a certain song played, she'd move around the barn in a happier manner.

An hour later, Madeline was practically done. Besides the small row of tools that laid in the grooves of the bed of the white truck, Madeline pretty much put away every stray tool. She'd have to warn her dad about the tools in the back, though. She knew all too well that he'd get in and drive away with them still in the back.

Sighing, Madeline turned the radio off and walked towards the large wooden doors, eager to get a glass of water to rid the feeling of dust in her throat.

She grabbed the wooden door to open it, and almost had one foot out the door before her Camaro's radio went off, producing nothing but static. Raising an eyebrow slightly, she retraced her steps and reached for the driver door handle, opening the car and promptly shutting the radio off like it was nothing.

 _Hm._

Once she shut the door, a car part from under the vehicle fell and hit the ground with a clunk. Madeline looked down at the ground between her shoes, sending a sympathetic look towards the car part. "Ooh, you're just fallin' apart, aren't you?" She murmured, but had the tone of voice as if a mother was speaking to her injured child.

Leaving the car's side, Madeline went hunting for a flashlight and some tools. Returning to the yellow car, she let herself fall to the ground, reaching forward and under the car to pick up the fallen part. Huh. This didn't look like anything Madeline was familiar with.

No matter. She'd fix it.

Laying on her back, she shoved herself under the car and gripped it to turn herself so she was a parallel with its length. She clicked the flashlight on. And almost immediately spotted where the car part fell from. Well, that makes it easier.

After putting it back in place, she wiggled it a bit just to be sure it was secure. Although it looked fine, Madeline grimaced slightly. She probably should've just waited until her dad came back to help. Oh, well. Madeline used her flashlight to look for anymore potential problems, but what she came across wasn't exactly a problem. Her flashlight highlighted something that looked like a face; just...mechanical?

Her eyebrows automatically knitted together. Madeline worked on a lot of cars in her time, but she's never seen anything like this. Observing it only just a moment longer, what looked like the eyes of the face lit up with bright, baby blue lights.

Madeline's mouth opened in a silent gasp, her hand holding the flashlight flying away from the face and hitting the ground, probably breaking the flashlight in the process; as it flickered and went out. Her entire body tensed; she wasn't expecting this at all.

Suddenly, the car above her folded into itself. Madeline watched with wide eyes and a frightened expression as her Camaro slowly, but surely, stood up. The robot looked around for a moment just by moving its head a fraction to the left and to the right with what Madeline guessed to be confusion, before it looked down. It's optics seemed to widen in surprise, as if it hadn't known Madeline was there in the first place.

The robot reacted as if it was scared of her, and it caused Madeline to react the same way. She shoved herself by her hands and feet away from the robot as quickly as she could, random yet breathless noises that implied that she was scared spilling from her mouth. The robot just backed away from her as well.

Madeline's breathing was haggard. _What the hell, what the hell, what the hell._

She was practically a quarter away from the wooden doors when her attempt to escape slowed, despite her mind telling her to run out of the barn and never look back. She watched closely as the robot backed up behind her dad's truck and crouched, looking as if it wanted to make itself smaller and less intimidating towards Madeline.

As if it didn't want to be rejected after breaking a Volkswagen beetle and shattering however many cars' windows just so Madeline would take it home.

Madeline slowly pushed herself up into a crouched position, her eyes never leaving the robot's balled figure, as if she was afraid it would disappear if she looked away.

A million thoughts ran through Madeline's head.

All those times the radio switched for no reason. The time the car door hit Jacob. All the times she carelessly sat herself on the hood. All the times she hit her head on top of the steering wheel because of bad drivers. _Oh my god, literally ten minutes ago I was dancing in front of this thing_. Madeline was suddenly very glad she was one of those people who kept their cars clean.

The air was thick with tension.

They sat in the most awkward silence Madeline had ever felt while she desperately tried to read it's expression. It's waiting for me to react. She stood slowly, making sure to make no sudden movements. She approached slowly, noting that the bot's attention seemed purposely directed elsewhere, towards something on the ground to it's left.

When her proximity came to a certain distance, the robot's head snapped towards her. Madeline's hands instantly raised in surrender. _Fuck, what am I doing?_

"I won't hurt you." She reassured quickly, but it's face didn't change from the scared expression. A few inhales and exhales later, Madeline continued slowly. "...who are you?" She asked quietly.

Madeline got no verbal response, but received an unsure look. _Well, it's a start._

She could understand why the robot was now so nervous and hesitant. It's like wearing a mask: nobody knows you're doing it. But when you reveal yourself, the perspective of whatever you did becomes different.

"Can you speak?" Madeline went on cautiously.

The reply was a very small and short nod, but it seemed strained, as if it wasn't sure if the answer was correct or not.

"Where did you come from?" Madeline felt horrible for asking the robot so many questions at once, but she couldn't help herself. To be completely honest, it looked like it needed a hug. "...why are you here?"

The radio switched on and quietly played multiple snippets from different stations. _"Message from Starfleet- / throughout the inanimate vastness of space / angels will rain down like visitors from Heaven-"_

Madeline's eyes widened, before she blinked like an owl. _Well, that wasn't difficult to understand._ Her arms began to lower fraction by fraction, the distant ache slowly beginning to form.

"You speak through your radio." She confirmed for herself, but it almost sounded like a question. "Visitors from Heaven? So you're...an alien of some sort?" She tried to understand; everyone always called them robotic aliens, but Madeline didn't want to assume. Her life was probably on the line.

The robot just held still, as if it knew Madeline wasn't finished with whatever she was saying. "Vastness of space...you came from a different planet then? Wait...message from Starfleet? You must be here for a reason then, right? You were told to come here?"

The robot slowly nodded, but wasn't very confident about whether it answered all Madeline's questions correctly or not.

 _"Rocket / explosion / unable to leave-"_ The robot continued.

Madeline squinted at the floor. _Unable to leave? So...I was right? They never left?_

Oh, she was so confused. Madeline had her fair share of knowledge about Transformers, but now that she was speaking to one, she might as well have known nothing at all. Did they come to take care of something?

Wanting to gain the trust of this robot, Madeline raised her hands to their original position and walked a few steps closer. The robot straightened in an effort to back up just a bit more, but couldn't because of a large workbench, and it appeared that the last thing it wanted to do was to break something.

"It's okay, it's alright." Madeline soothed. "I know you're scared."

Really, she didn't know if this thing was scared of her, or scared of hurting her. Either way, the whole 'skittish thing' won't work if the robot decided to stay. "I won't hurt you. I promise." Madeline felt only a small bit of confidence, considering her heart was almost pounding out of her chest.

She assumed this bot was an Autobot, seeing as it wasn't currently trying to kill her.

What Madeline really wanted to know, was why it was so scared.

From the beginning Madeline was never around many loud or rough people, and she never allowed anyone to really do anything such as roughhousing around the Camaro. Well, there were her fights with Aira inside and outside of the car, that might have been part of it.

She herself, however, never really did anything exciting around it, except for maybe intense karaoke when she was alone in the barn like earlier.

So, what did this Autobot experience to make it act like this? Madeline made a mental note to ask about it later, if the robot ended up staying. The only thing Madeline could come up with, that made sense, was that humans in the past did something to it. Or maybe a Decepticon fatally wounded it.

While trying to sort her thoughts, Madeline hadn't realized the robot had fixated it's attention on her widespread hands, and leaned closer. It wasn't until the Autobot rested it's head against her hands, them being placed on it's cheeks, that she was jolted back to reality. It's eyes were closed, and actually looked relaxed since the first time Madeline has seen it. Madeline felt a small smile tug at her lips.

It was like this robot was touch-deprived.

Which was strange in a sense, but Madeline couldn't help but realize how human the robot really was.

"What's your name?" She asked quietly, it's bright blue eyes reappearing. She anticipated the robot's answer, when a noise outside the barn caught both of their attentions.

The sound was a car pulling up to the house.

The Autobot stood, moving into a slight defensive stance. Madeline stumbled backwards, once again feeling inferior when seeing it's full height. "Hey, hey." She called, successfully grabbing it's attention. "It's alright, don't worry. It's just my friend, Rebecca." Madeline almost missed the quick flash of relief and recognition across its face. "She won't hurt you either. Stay here." She ordered, before turning on her heel and sprinting out of the barn.

Rebecca was walking towards the barn as Madeline raced out, almost causing them to collide. "Woah, where are you going off in such a hurry?"

Madeline grinned. "Just excited to see you, that's all."

"Uh-huh. Well, I never got to drink that Capri Sun so let's get movin'." Rebecca said, mirroring Madeline's grin as she walked closer to the barn.

"We're not taking your car?" Madeline said quickly, Rebecca completely missing her slightly panicked voice.

"Are you kidding? My mom's Ford Escape that I had to nag her into letting me borrow or your Camaro? I'll take the Camaro."

"Hey! Wait-" Madeline reached out in an attempt to grab Rebecca's sleeve, but Rebecca already slipped through the doors. Practically hurtling herself back into the barn, the pressure sitting on her shoulders immediately dissipated when she saw the scene.

The Camaro sat there like nothing ever happened.

Rebecca was already in front of the car, running her hand over the hood. "Damn. I still can't believe you got this at Bobby's dealership, of all places."

Madeline grimaced slightly and shrugged. She didn't know if it made the Autobot uncomfortable when people touched it. In fact, Madeline was scared to touch it altogether, even though she just did. "I know. I still can't either."

"How much did you say it was?"

"Four thousand."

"That's a double score right there." Rebecca said, pointing at the car with a fascinated expression.

"Mhm," Madeline hummed, smiling at her friend. "And once you stop staring at my...car, we can go get those smoothies you desperately wanted."

"Sounds like a plan. Can I drive?"

"In your dreams."

* * *

June 15, 2018

"Hey, what're you doing still working?" Rebecca asked with playful seriousness.

Madeline looked up from the tea she was making. "Huh?"

Rebecca rolled her eyes. "Silly, it's your break time. You're about five minutes into it, too."

"Ah, that's not bad." Madeline said, promptly returning to the drink.

"Want me to finish it?"

"Nah, I'm almost done." Madeline replied, topping the drink off with the requested whipped cream. Reaching over to grab the top, she pushed it on top of the cup, then leaned over the counter to give it to the waiting customer. The customer smiled and thanked Madeline before walking out.

Turning, Madeline made her way from out behind the counter and headed towards the table employees normally used for their break, since customers rarely sat there. Sitting, Madeline pulled out her phone to occupy herself. She had about twenty minutes left of her break. Believing this was the perfect time to go over things that happened yesterday, Madeline placed her phone on the wooden table and rested her chin on her hand.

 _Okay._

It was really bothering Madeline that such an old robot, probably much older than one million years, was so hesitant about a human, which was probably more than ten times smaller than itself. And being as it never left, it should have been comfortable with anything it's experienced, right?

 _Oh hell._

She wanted the robot to leave. Not in a bad way; she wanted it to be free. The poor thing shouldn't be hiding out in her father's barn. Though, Madeline assumed that the Autobot was very capable of leaving at any time, as the barn doors don't have a lock- which Madeline thought was completely irresponsible despite the fact she had the ability to get one, yet never did.

But, the Autobot must be staying for a reason, right?

The only logical reason Madeline could come up with, was that it was in hiding. If that was case, does that mean the robot entrusted Madeline with its care?

 _No. An alien robot can take care of itself._

"Madeline."

Maybe something was hunting the robot, or Madeline had something it wanted. She'd have to ask it, once it became more comfortable with Madeline's presence.

She had to give it some credit though, it was a good actor. After their meeting, it acted just as it had before, and Rebecca had no suspicions about it.

"Madeline."

Though, after the girls returned home, Madeline immediately left the car alone, wanting to give it space.

"Madeline!"

"What! What?" Madeline looked up and saw Rebecca's grinning face.

"Are you alright? You were staring at the table as if it killed Aira."

"Yeah, I'm good." Madeline said, mirroring Rebecca's wide grin. "Just thinking about some stuff I could do later."

"Understandable. You want anything?"

"Vanilla latte."

"You got it." With that, Rebecca walked away.

Madeline inwardly groaned and covered her face with her hands. Trying to get her thoughts in check again, Madeline didn't notice a man walk up to her and discretely slide a small piece of paper near her arm.

She did notice the feeling of the paper poking her arm, though.

She squinted at the paper that laid face down, before looking up and seeing a man in a coat and large hat retreating quickly out of the café. What a cliché. Seeing as she couldn't chase after him, Madeline picked up the piece of paper. It had a series of numbers and five words:

 _Keep Hidden. Do Not Lose. 2244867_

Well, that's not ominous.

The number wasn't long enough to be a phone number, so at least it wasn't some random guy trying to hook up. Madeline sighed. What the hell is this note, and what is she getting herself into?

Rebecca returned, setting the latte down carefully. She cocked her head. "You look like you just threw up. Are you really feeling okay?"

Madeline smiled. "I promise, Rebecca. I'm fine."

"If you say so. Besties gotta look out for each other." Rebecca reminded, pointing at Madeline.

"I love you." Madeline said, laughing.

"Ass, you better love me." Again, Rebecca walked away, striking up a conversation with another employee.

Once again, Madeline sighed.

Something told her she was going to be involved with the government soon.

* * *

 _ **Woo, and that's all for this chapter.**_

 _ **Y'all see what I did when Madeline met Bee? I can't tell you how excited I am for the movie, aah.**_

 _ **Stay tuned!**_

 _ **I apologize for any mistakes~**_

 _ **\- Pastel**_


	3. To Be Amiable

_**This chapter is all over the place, I don't even know anymore.**_

 _ **There's a lot of dialogue, so I'm sorry about that. I'll be sure to work on that, hue.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my OCs!**_

 _ **Enjoy this talkative chapter~**_

 _ **-Pastel**_

* * *

 _ **Bond that can't be Broken**_

 _ **Chapter 3: To Be Amiable**_

June 16, 2018

 _"Hey dad? Can I- what are you doing?"_

 _"Packing."_

 _"For?"_

 _"Italy."_

 _"We're going to Italy?"_

 _"No, Aira."_

 _"Wait what?"_

 _"Why are you going without us?"_

 _"I need you two to take care of the house. I'm going to Italy solely for the purpose of the work. I'd take you both if I could, I really would."_

 _"How long are you staying in Italy?"_

 _"..."_

 _"Dad?"_

 _"Three months."_

 _"Three months!"_

 _"Yes. I'm sorry."_

 _"Why didn't you tell us earlier?"_

 _"I wasn't supposed to tell you at all. But usually, family comes before work under my terms."_

 _"You work for the government, what could they possibly want with you in Italy?"_

 _"That...I don't know."_

 _"So, you're just...leaving?"_

 _"Madeline, it's urgent business. If I knew, there's a chance I wouldn't even be able to reveal that. I need to leave."_

Their father walks out the door.

 _"Why do I feel like he's hiding something?"_

 _"Don't doubt dad. I'm sure it has something to do with all the drama about the president and what not."_

 _"He has to go to Italy because of problems revolving around the president?"_

 _"I don't know, Aira. We'll deal with it later."_

* * *

June 19, 2018

With their father gone, Madeline and Aira didn't really know what to do. Well, it wasn't completely different with him gone; the sisters did their own thing most of the time, and usually depended on themselves.

But now, the house felt empty without their father's constant scolding about their shenanigans.

The next few days were quiet and solemn; they stayed at the house and did small activities together, until they finally came to terms that they their father didn't consider bring them with. It wasn't like they had to be with him all the time.

Well, on the bright side, Aira pointed out that he would no longer be there yelling at them about their curfew. It was true, but both the girls knew they were both angry and somewhat unforgiving. Well, not somewhat. Just a bit.

Madeline found it especially weird why he was acting so skittish before he left, and kept darting his eyes away from Madeline to avoid eye contact. It was worse, because he kept eye contact with Aira. Did Madeline do something she didn't realize?

Aira didn't even noticed the eye darting, but she did notice he was acting a little strange.

But, Aira being Aira, it didn't take her more than an hour for her to make plans and leave with a group of friends after she claimed she was done sulking over nothing, but not without shouting "deuces" into the house to make sure Madeline knew she was leaving.

Madeline sat on the edge of her bed, hunched over with her head in her hands. _Just do it Madeline._

As soon as Aira had left, the thought of talking to the Autobot crossed her mind. There was so much to learn about the robot, and why it was using the family's barn as a hide out. And maybe to find out it's gender, so she could stop calling it an it.

 _Wait, do robots have genders?_ Madeline let out a loud groan and rubbed her temples. _You're going to have to do it one way or another, just do it._

Madeline shoved herself upwards to stand, then bit her lip. What if it suddenly turned on her? No. If it wanted to kill her, she would have already been dead. All it had to do was step on her, and it'd be over. The image made Madeline grimace. There's a good chance she wouldn't have even gotten past purchasing the car in the first place if it wanted her dead.

She knew Decepticons weren't a fan about lying in wait.

Shoving all negative thoughts aside, Madeline left her room, moved quickly down stairs, continued out the front door and made her way towards the barn.

She raised her hand to grab the wooden door's handle, but hesitated for a short moment. However, Madeline promptly forced herself to enter the barn, and shut the doors behind her. The car sat there peacefully, their dad's truck nowhere to be seen.

Madeline approached the car cautiously. How does one wake a Transformer? Do they even sleep? Madeline reached out and gently touched the hood with her fingertips.

"Hey..." She started out awkwardly. "...can I talk to you?" Her voice easily gave away that she was nervous.

The car did nothing.

For a moment.

Madeline had mentally cheered when the car held still, just because the whole thing could have been a dream.

Could have.

Madeline stumbled back out of shock when the Camaro transformed, practically kicking away all hopes of the thing being a dream. Madeline's hands rose in surrender just in case. "I just want to get to know you." She said quickly when she noticed the bot's expression; it showed clear distrust.

I guess my car being a Transformer would be a weird dream anyway.

It's funny, how a mechanical robot could make such human-like expressions. Well, Madeline didn't think they were that different from each other, besides the obvious.

The robot didn't respond, but Madeline took that as an okay.

Madeline lowered herself to the ground and sat Indian style, to prove she wanted nothing more than to just talk. Another confused expression later, the Autobot mirrored her pose as best as it could.

Madeline offered a friendly smile. "I'll pick up from...last time. What's your name?"

The robot hesitated only for a second before answering. _"...Bumblebee."_

That sounded like something off of National Geographic. The name itself made Madeline grin. A fighting machine with a name like that? "That's cute." Madeline replied, folding her hands in her lap.

Bumblebee gave her a frown that said _my-name-is-not-cute-thank-you-very-much._

Madeline just chuckled. "May I call you Bee?" There was barely any thought before Bumblebee nodded, somewhat happy to be called by the nickname.

Before she could ask anything else, Bumblebee gestured towards her. Madeline looked down at her shirt and legs. "Huh?" She asked, looking back up.

 _"Name?"_

"Oh, right. I'm Madeline."

 _"Madeline."_

Madeline's eyebrows raised. Was that her voice? "Mhm." She grinned, but it faded. "Um...what happened to you?"

Bee looked anything other than Madeline. _"-ambush-"_

Madeline squinted. "An ambush? By who?"

 _"-humans-"_

Madeline was taken aback by his -she assumed Bee was a 'him'; she really didn't want to go through the embarrassment of asking if he was a boy or a girl- answer, mouth slightly agape. But then again, it made sense. It was one of her guesses in the beginning, anyway.

"Wait, wait. But you're on our side, why would humans want to hurt you?"

 _"They weren't alone-"_

"Any idea who did it? Or why, for that matter?" Bee shook his head, but his expression said otherwise; Madeline wouldn't press.

Well, she was right about the Autobot being in hiding. But, whoever was with the humans at the time of the ambush, Madeline was confused on why would it help them. If it was a Decepticon, she knew they didn't particularly play well with others. If it was something else...well, she'd have to figure that out later. "Well, I promise I'll have your back no matter what." Madeline concluded with a grin, giving a thumbs up.

 _"I believe you."_

Madeline perked at that. Her cheeky grin turned a genuine smile. How could an alien robot, that's probably a million or more years old, make her feel so happy in a matter of minutes after only meeting for the second time? Blinking, Madeline looked up after she realized she'd been staring at the ground. "Are there others?" His reply was a nod. "Oh? How many?"

 _"I don't know / anymore."_

Madeline's eyes widened. "I'm sorry." She looked away. Man, trying to understand something that you've never been apart of was really hard. Bee gave her a fond look that Madeline missed, because she suddenly had a wary look on her face. "Am I bothering you? You have every right to tell me to back the hell off."

 _"No."_

"Really?" Her tone was surprised. "Well, anything you'd like to know?"

 _"Why are you / being so kind / to me?"_

Madeline looked down and cracked her knuckles out of nervous habit. "I like helping others." She said truthfully, then suddenly looked up with an irritated expression. "I know there's a helluva lot of negative opinions about you guys." She started, leaning back on her palms. "But, I have my own damn opinions, so the government can fuck off." The words seemed to spill shamelessly; they were probably coming from her anger towards her dad.

Bee's eyebrows, or what looked to be his eyebrows, raised in surprise. _"You're an interesting / human."_

"Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?"

 _"-good."_

Madeline grinned and quietly laughed. "Okay, what I want to know is why you're now being so comfortable with me. About an hour ago you didn't want anything to do with me."

 _"I trust you."_

Madeline's expression became hopeful. "Already? No second guessing?"

Bee's optics narrowed. _"I love twenty questions!"_

Oh, ouch. Even through a radio, Madeline could sense the huge amount of sarcasm Bee projected. It made Madeline burst into a laughing fit. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She apologized, regaining her breath while waving her hand. "One more, please?"

 _"Go ahead."_

"Why do so many people dislike you? You're just as human as I am."

 _"There are many people / on Earth / that do not have / the same open mind / as you do, friend."_ Bee replied sadly, his voice switching to multiple stations.

Madeline had no argument against that. "Ain't that the truth." Her tone was quiet. They sat in silence for a few awkward minutes, before Madeline sighed, hugging her knees to her chest. "You know, there's a new rule, that when you see a Transformer, there's a number you're supposed to call." She began.

Bee looked up, his expression not very confident.

"Once you call the number, you give them the Transformer's location and they take it from there, while you receive a cash prize: 25,000 dollars." Madeline used her hands to help herself stand.

 _"You're going to turn me in?"_

Madeline almost regretted saying anything about the number once she saw Bee's scared expression. Madeline's eyebrows knitted together. "No." Bumblebee seemed to deflate. "Because I would not want the government to take you away to some random place because of pettiness or whatever shit reason they have to get rid of you."

 _"You're going against the government."_

Madeline shrugged her shoulders. "I'm still searching for the fucks I give. I knew I was going against the government the moment I saw your eyes." She pointed in the Autobot's direction.

Bee looked guilty. _"You are willing / to go against your / leaders / for me?"_

"You could put it like that." Madeline placed her hands on her hips. "You've done so much us. You've accomplished more things than I ever have a thousand years before I was born. You think I'd just hand you over to be turned into potential scrap metal after all this?"

 _"Thank you."_

"Don't thank me yet. There's only so much someone like me can do." Madeline muttered, rubbing the back of her neck.

 _"I believe in you."_

Madeline gave him another smile. "Thanks, Bee." Madeline let her hands drop to her sides and let out a large breath of air. The atmosphere in the barn was depressing.

Time to lighten it.

Madeline walked forward, happy to see that Bee didn't try and back up. Bowing slightly, Madeline held her hand out. "Now, will you do me the honor of becoming my new friend?" She asked, grinning again.

Bee tilted his head like a confused dog, before slowly holding his own hand out. Madeline gently laid hers on top of his metal one.

 _"I'd be happy to / be your friend, / Madeline."_

* * *

June 22, 2018

 _"Hey, you're going to the party on Saturday right?"_

 _"There's another one?"_

 _"You didn't know?"_

 _"I may have a good amount of friends, but I'm not that social."_

 _"Lame. It's Willow's party. Everyone's going. So you're going...right?"_

 _"If it's Willow's, I know for a fact this one is for the seniors, or rather, the seniors who graduated, so Aira won't be able to go."_

 _"I'm sure Aira's not too happy about that."_

 _"She'll live. I'm sure she'll come up with something to keep herself entertained."_

 _"You're not going to leave in the first ten minutes of the party, right?"_

 _"Keep repeating_ "right" _and I just might."_

 _"Ha ha. Sorry, I can't help it."_

 _"I won't leave early this time, I promise."_

 _"Good, now let's switch topics."_

 _"Oh?"_

 _"Your birthday is coming up, and I know you have nothing to do, because you're Madeline."_

 _"You got me there."_

 _"Don't roll your eyes at me. I have the perfect idea for us."_

 _"Spill it."_

 _"The lake!"_

 _"Did you read my mind or something? I've been trying to make plans to go to the lake!"_

 _"We're best friends. Our minds are alike."_

 _"I guess."_

 _"Thankfully, your birthday lands on a Friday, so we can leave after work?"_

 _"Brilliant."_

 _"I know, right?"_

 _"Rebecca."_

 _"Sorry!"_

* * *

June 25, 2018

"You're telling me you know what Twenty Questions is but you don't know what Catchphrase is?" Madeline said with fake distrust, eyes narrowed at the Autbot in front of her.

 _"Afraid not-"_ Bee replied, somewhat smug.

"Not even the slightest idea?" Madeline pressed, a look of disbelief plastered on her face.

 _"Not sure what / a catchphrase / is-"_ Bee replied, causing Madeline to shake her head and laugh.

"Come on, Bee." Tears began to well in her eyes from trying to suppress her laughter.

 _"Sorry to / disappoint."_ He sounded like a girl Madeline knew from high school.

"A catchphrase is something someone says a lot, I suppose. Like, if you were to say, _'Float like a Butterfly; Sting like a Bee'_ a lot, that would be your catchphrase."

 _"Lame."_

His response made Madeline quite literally fall over and laugh, causing Bee to look at her with an expression that was mixed between amusement and confusion. Madeline was beginning to believe she was the main cause for all the times he's been confused.

"Let's switch topics before I have a heart attack." Madeline pushed herself upwards so she could sit upright, only to laugh again at Bee's concerned expression. "I was kidding."

 _"Human / jokes are / strange."_ Bee pointed out warily, adjusting his posture slightly. Madeline had noticed that their first actual conversation, he sat a bit more rigid than he was right now. Really, he looked sort of relaxed. Bee even let Madeline sit closer this time. She wasn't sitting between his legs, but she sat near the inside of his right foot.

Madeline had heard a lot of jokes in her time, and really, she couldn't disagree with Bee's statement. "Yeah, our humor is kind of weird. You get used to it though, and eventually it becomes funny. Sometimes. It depends on the person."

Bee just made a face as if he was thinking really hard about what she just said.

"Anyway, have you had any human interaction before me?" Madeline asked, pulling her legs up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. "Well, I mean obviously. But like, a full on conversation like we're having right now?" Bee moved his head as if he were nodding and shaking his head at the same time. "A little bit?" Madeline answered for him. He nodded at that.

 _"I was / a war machine / for your army."_

Madeline gave him a sympathetic look. "That doesn't sound very pleasant."

 _"It's not."_

"I'm sorry." Madeline mumbled. _That's exactly why the government should leave the Autobots alone. They fought for the humans, yet people are blinded by who knows what. They need glasses with the prescription common sense._

 _"I'm glad you feel that way."_ Bee answered with both appreciation and amusement.

"Huh?" Madeline instantly replied, raising her head from where it was previously resting on her knees.

 _"Did you not / mean to say / that out loud?"_ Bee might as well be laughing at her now.

"Oh shit, I said that out loud?"

 _"Clearly."_

Madeline just grinned with a shrug. "Oh well." Madeline then leaned back on her palms and let her legs stretch out in front of her. "Tell me, Bumblebee, how long do you plan to stay in my father's barn?"

 _"As long as you / allow me to stay."_ He answered. Madeline raised an eyebrow. She didn't know if he was joking or being serious.

"Oh?"

 _"Or until something happens, / or I get / the signal."_

Madeline's head tilted. "The signal?"

 _"When our leader calls / us out / of hiding."_

Madeline's eyebrows furrowed. She sort of hoped that wouldn't be too soon. She was starting to like this bot, very much. It probably wasn't a good thing, since she was basically going against her dad and committing a crime. But, right now, she didn't care.

Before both of them could speak again, Madeline's phone starting vibrating in a rhythmic pattern, giving the indication someone was calling her. Madeline stood and excused herself, exiting the barn and answering the phone.

"Hello?"

 _"Madeline Taylor?"_

Madeline hesitated. The voice sounded familiar, but at the same time it didn't. "Uh...yes, that's me. Who is this?"

 _"That is unimportant. Danger is coming."_

"Excuse me?" Madeline answered quickly, a little more harsh than intended.

 _"Did you receive the number?"_

"Number- what number?"

 _"Think. I can't repeat it over the phone."_

Madeline pinched the bridge of her nose. Oh, the number she got at the cafe. "Uh, yeah. I got the number." Her tone sounded rushed.

 _"That number is the key to a flash drive containing information you need."_

Madeline frowned. "I don't need a flash drive." She retorted.

 _"You will."_

Madeline felt herself getting angry. "Why? Who is this and why are you calling me?"

 _"Again. Unimportant."_ Now the person on the other line sounded irritated. _"I can't talk for much longer."_

Madeline groaned. "Oh my go- why do I need this...flash drive?"

 _"It's the only thing that can both stop and start Megatron's bomb."_

"Excuse me?" Madeline repeated. Oh hell, her dad would not be happy with her right now.

 _"You heard me."_ Oh, this stranger was sassing her now. Okay.

"Megatron? As in, the Decepticon in the Chicago War?" Madeline asked, making sure to keep her voice quiet.

 _"Correct. I need to hang up."_

"Wait! Wait! What does the flash drive look like?"

 _"I can message you a picture, but then you must delete both the picture and my number."_

Madeline's phone vibrated, so she moved the phone away from her ear and pressed the home button on her phone, tapping the message icon. Thankfully, her phone allowed her to do this without ending the call.

The picture made Madeline shake her head and squint. It looked bigger than a flash drive, metallic and somewhat spiny. The only thing that would resemble a flash drive would be the end of the thing that had what looked like a USB, giving the indication it plugs into something. But it also looked fake, as if it was generated on a computer to see what it would look like if it was real.

Putting the phone back to her ear, Madeline almost growled out her response. "That does not look like a flash drive, are you insane?"

 _"What they call it translates roughly to flash drive. I must go."_

Madeline's eyes narrowed. They? This person must be one of those "It's either us, or them" people. "Wait- fuck." Madeline let her hands drop to her sides and leaned against the barn's wall. Looking at the photo one last time to burn it into her memory, she deleted it and the stranger's number.

Hanging outside for a moment longer, a whirring noise from the barn reached Madeline's ears. Shoving her phone in her pocket, she reentered the barn. She spotted Bee somewhat hunched over, using his palm to hit his face. The action was neither gentle or hard.

Madeline pressed her lips together. "Voice problems?" She asked, sympathy in her voice.

 _"A little."_

Madeline crossed her arms. No way was she going to mention anything about the flash drive until she was sure about the whole situation. Instead, she moved on to the topic of her birthday. "Bee, I gotta ask you somethin'."

He looked up, abandoning whatever he was doing previously.

"So, my birthday is coming up-" Madeline cut herself off once she heard the quiet tune of Happy Birthday. She smiled at Bee's enthusiasm. "Rebecca and I planned to go to the lake for a day or two, and I wanted to ask if you were okay with that."  
Bee nodded, giving a makeshift smile.

"Would you like to come along?" This time, his nod was much more happy. Madeline grinned. "Great! We're leaving next Friday."

* * *

June 26, 2018

"Who knew Willow could throw a party like this." Rebecca said in awe as she and Madeline made their way to the kitchen. Many people had already greeted them, while others just nodded their heads at them or ignored them altogether.

Willow's house was large, and she made sure everyone knew. Willow had thrown multiple parties before, but they had been for other reasons. This was the first time Rebecca and Madeline had been to one where they were invited. Indirectly, but still invited.

The entire house was pretty dim, but most rooms were lit with fluorescent lights. Party music could be heard throughout the house, but it was at its loudest in the backyard. Outside was where most of the party attendees were, either talking or dancing.  
Once Madeline and Rebecca obtained their desired drink, they headed outside. The music was much louder than Madeline thought it would be. She could feel the bass in her ears, feet and chest. Good thing Bee was in the front of the house, and not near the back; she was sure it'd bother him a little bit.

Though, she personally wasn't complaining; Madeline loved music with lots of bass.

Madeline and Rebecca found a group of girls they usually hung out with when school was in session, and the both were easily accepted into their small circle.

"I'm really impressed with this party." Sarah, one of the girls, commented.

"Me too, but I can already tell there's a lot of people who are going to get the cops called on us." Opal said, unimpressed.

Madeline mentally agreed. Mostly everyone here was under the age of twenty-one, but everyone knew there was alcohol here. And to make things worse, Madeline was about seventy-nine percent sure there were drugs at the party, too.

"I won't be surprised if they show up." Rebecca replied. "I've never been to a party where they haven't."

"I don't know if that's something to be proud of." Peyton laughed, catching on to the hint of pride in Rebecca's last statement.

"We'll, it'll be something I'll be known for."

"Almost getting arrested at every party you go to?" Madeline asked, eyebrows raising.

"Shut up, Madeline."

The group of girls erupted into laughter. Before anything else, the entire group turned to the sound of people cheering. The girls spotted Jacob in the middle of a large circle, and he was rapping along with Eminem's song _Rap God._

Madeline's eyes widened. _What in the hell-_

"That's hot." Sarah commented, taking a sip from the red solo cup she held and looking away when the group gave her a weird look. The sight reminded Madeline of that Kermit meme.

"How long do you think it took him to master that?" Peyton asked, smirking.

"A year, at least." Opal suggested, still somewhat shook from the "performance". "Maybe more."

"I bet I could do better." Rebecca claimed. "He was probably just mumbling the entire thing, anyway."

"Oh, really?" Everyone said in unison.

"I know every word to _Bohemian Rhapsody_." Rebecca said, and Madeline had to hold back the laughter that tried to come forth.

"Of course you fuckin' do." Sarah said in between spurts of laughter.

"I think that beats _Rap God_." Peyton said before pulling out her phone to look at the time.

"Are you kidding? Of course it beats _Rap God_." Rebecca said proudly.

"Why don't you go up to Jacob right now and tell him that _Bohemian Rhapsody_ is better and you'll sing it right now to prove it." Opal challenged.

Rebecca's eyes widened. "I may be a lightweight, but I ain't that drunk yet." She muttered, her sentence trailing off as she raised the solo cup to her mouth. Madeline knew that Rebecca basically implied she'd be drinking alcohol later tonight.

Her statement caused the other four girls to start laughing.

* * *

The party continued on as a party would, Madeline somewhat thanking God that Bee could drive himself, because no matter how much Madeline told herself that she wouldn't, she ended up drinking fucking tequila.

Rebecca was able to get Madeline dancing, no matter how many times Madeline said no. Sometimes it's hard to resist your best friend. The only time Madeline voluntarily danced, was when _Cupid Shuffle_ began to play.

When Rebecca and Madeline were taking a break, Madeline took a mental check of the both of them. Well, Madeline didn't feel drunk, and Rebecca wasn't acting drunk, so she guessed that was a good sign. Madeline turned and was just about to say something to Rebecca when shouting from out front caught their attention.

There was a short pause.

"Should we investigate?" Rebecca asked.

"Why not?"

Both of them shoved themselves upwards from their seat and immediately grabbed each other. _Woah, lightheaded. Maybe I am a little drunk._ Regaining their composure, they walked into the house and headed towards the front door.

People were out in the front yard, complaining about a car that was driven into the bushes. Madeline squinted, then grimaced. Bee. Why.

Instead of looking out, Rebecca had sat on a nearby couch and was literally dozing off. "Hey, I gotta go." Madeline said, shaking her friend's shoulder.

"Already?" Rebecca complained, blinking to clear her vision.

"'Becca, we've been here for over three hours. And it's two in the morning."

"Oh." She paused. "Really?"

"Yes, really. And I gotta go."

"Oh, well, have fun buddy." Rebecca said with a lazy grin, waving her hand.

Madeline's eyebrows knitted as she smiled at her friend, then did nothing but run to the Camaro that sat pathetically in the neatly trimmed bushes. Thankfully, the driver side door wasn't on the side the people were standing, so Madeline could talk through the window without any suspicions. As she approached, the window rolled down to show no driver, of course. Madeline's eyes narrowed. "What are you doing?" She hissed.

 _"Houston, we have a problem."_

Madeline rolled her eyes. "You're a child."

 _"But it was funny, huh?"_ Bee replied with Gabriel Iglesias' comedic voice.

"No." Madeline said in a monotone voice, rubbing her eyes. Instead of getting in the car, Madeline turned, crossed the street and started walking down the sidewalk, away from the party.

The Camaro pulled out of the pushes and into the street, then pulled up and continued to drive alongside Madeline, matching her pace. Madeline shot a glare his way, but then understood why he drove into the bushes into the first place.

Graffiti was sprayed along the entire side of the car in black paint, showcasing nonsensical squiggles.

Great, now that made Madeline even angrier. Bee seemed to sense the angry vibe almost instantly, then took it upon himself to cheer Madeline up. The radio switched on again and began playing a song Madeline instantly knew, just because- who could not like that song?

 _"If you like pina coladas, and gettin' caught in the rain-"_

Madeline huffed. "Don't try serenading me, now."

 _"And the feel of the ocean, and the taste of champagne-"_

Oh, champagne. That reminded Madeline of the tequila she drank. She'd probably feel it in the morning. Good thing it was Sunday tomorrow.

 _"If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape-"_

Madeline laughed out loud. Boy, did she have a perverted mind. It made it funnier since the lyric came from an Autobot that was probably just as childish as she was.

 _"You're the lady I've looked for, so come with me and escape."_

There were no cars along the sidewalk, so it gave Bee an advantage. The music cut off as he sped up just to get a little ahead of Madeline, the driver side door swinging open as an invitation to get inside. Madeline slowed next to the car, then sighed. Grabbing the door as leverage, she slid into the driver's seat and shut the door, the Camaro automatically taking control and driving off.

Crossing her arms, Madeline leaned back against the leather seats and closed her eyes. "Just because you made me laugh doesn't mean I'm not irritated."

 _"-my apologies-"_

* * *

 _Three o'clock in the morning..._

When Madeline arrived at the house, she was both amazed and proud of herself for staying awake. But now, the part she was dreading came along. Spray paint is a bitch to get off. As far as Madeline knew, it doesn't come off. But, it never hurt to try.

She left Bee outside the barn and stumbled tiredly into the house, grabbing the needed cleaning supplies. She realized Aira wasn't home, since there was no yelling, and assumed she spent the night at her friend's house. Her assumption was correct when she later checked her phone.

When she walked back out, Bee could tell Madeline was about to pass out from exhaustion. _"You can go / to sleep."_ Bee said, gently urging Madeline to do just that.

Madeline shook her head. "I'm gonna get this shit over with, and then later, whoever did this, Imma knock their punk ass out." She said with eyes half closed.

In his alt. form, Bee made a whirring noise similar to laughter. Madeline just squinted. Managing to turn on the hose, she purposely sprayed herself in the face to wake herself up.

It somewhat worked.

Walking over to the car, Madeline realized it was going to be difficult to wash a car in the dark. Whatever.

Spraying the side of the car with the graffiti, Madeline threw the hose down and picked up the sponge. When she reached out to start scrubbing, the Camaro suddenly drove forward and out of her reach.

Madeline looked at the car as if she was too sleep-deprived to understand what happened.

Madeline walked after the car, then attempted to clean again, only for the car to drive off again. "Come back here you ass." Madeline hissed, jogging after the car. Yet again, the car drove forward. "It's three in the morning I don't wanna deal with this shit." Madeline complained, voice ending in a strain.

Madeline tried one last time, but again, the car drove forward. Instead of going after it again, Madeline balled the sponge in her hand and chucked it. The sponge landed in the center of the back windshield, despite the fact it wasn't a very strong throw.  
Madeline was satisfied with herself until the Camaro drove forward, then turned around and drove towards Madeline.

The first thought that cross Madeline's mind was run. Which is just what she did. She pivoted and started sprinting down the dirt road. For some reason she firmly believed Bumblebee was going to run her over just because she threw a sponge.  
Madeline actually managed to gain some distance, but then Bee accelerated to the point he was almost on her heels, before transforming and flipping above Madeline, while grabbing her in the process.

Bee rolled forward with Madeline protected by his hands while being held close to his chest. Bumblebee stopped upright, sitting in the middle of the dirt road.  
When Bee loosened the ball he made with his hands, Madeline stared up at him with wide eyes, and couldn't help but look around with wide eyes. "What the hell."

Bee made another whirring noise.

"Well, I'm awake now."

* * *

 _ **Woo, over five thousand words for this one. Ah, memes.**_

 _ **I apologize for any mistakes, and for the fact there's barely any action.**_

 _ **I promise, it's coming. c:**_

 _ **\- Pastel**_


	4. The Adversary

_**First off, I want to thank**_ **mysticsoldier1715** _ **for the review, I'm really glad you like my story! I was a little iffy with the whole thing, but you gave me confidence, so thank you!**_

 _ **I didn't upload when I wanted to because I just got back from dance camp, a fun and tiring experience. I also got the flu once I got home, so that's always a bonus. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I apologize for any mistakes.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my OCs!**_

 _ **-Pastel**_

* * *

 _ **Bond that can't Bee Broken**_

 _ **Chapter 4: The Adversary**_

June 28, 2018

Madeline was starting to dislike Mondays. Very much.

The particular day of the week deemed to be the busiest out of all of Madeline's work shifts; it was always at its worst in the mornings. Apparently a lot of people needed coffee to keep themselves awake at whatever job they had. But Madeline couldn't really complain, she herself drank a lot of coffee too.

Rebecca unfortunately couldn't be a work today because she got food poisoning from only God knows what. She claimed it started after she got home from Willow's party; no doubt Rebecca drunkenly ate something she shouldn't have.

This left Madeline to do her job with little to no conversations. Still identified as the newcomer and all, the rest of the employees unsurprisingly kept to their small group of friends. It didn't affect Madeline negatively, she really just wanted the day to be over.

Working in a café was easy, Madeline just felt really, really tired.

Thankfully, despite whatever Madeline was going through, as she didn't know herself, she was able to take orders and correctly fulfill the customers' needs. Just a little slower than normal.

By the time Madeline's break came along, Madeline felt like she was about to pass out. Maybe it was a little bit of an exaggeration, but her eyelids felt heavy. Sitting at the table alone, Madeline realized she was probably just mentally drained.

The pressure of keeping a secret like that would always be difficult if this was your first time, no matter who it was that was keeping the secret. Aira was already giving her sister sidelong glances because Madeline was being quieter than normal, and had been hanging out in the barn longer than usual.

 _Perhaps Aira isn't as thick-headed as I thought._

Madeline leaned back against the chair, her left index finger running along the rim of the coffee cup she held. Madeline blinked slowly, becoming a little self-conscious of how she looked.

 _I must look like a crackhead, or someone who hasn't slept in ten days._

Madeline took the latter. Really, she pretty much sat in bed all day on Sunday after waking up around noon. Aira hadn't arrived back at the house until at least two o'clock in the afternoon, causing Madeline to demand where she's been.

Aira instantly saw her sister wasn't "all there" and switched the topic to her health. Madeline claimed she was fine, and just happened to stay up past three o'clock in the morning. When Aira asked her why, Madeline just said she was watching TV and lost track of time.

The fact Madeline was able to create a trusting and pretty mellow friendship with the Autobot hiding in her barn made everything much more stressful. If anything managed to slip, who knows what would happen.

Madeline wanted to find out what the government did with the Transformers once they found their location. The only thing she could come up with was that they killed it on the spot, then dragged them off to a trash heap. The thought itself made Madeline feel solemn. And as a bonus, Madeline had no doubt that the government would ask how long she's known. If she answered truthfully, off to jail Madeline would go. And probably Aira too, because that's how the government works.

Realizing she had been staring at the ground like a dazed zombie for the past five minutes, Madeline adjusted her posture in the chair and directed her attention towards one of the few TVs in the café. The screen showed the news, but instead of alien robots, the woman was speaking of a bank robbery outside of Madeline's town. She let out an audible sigh.

Man, she was tired.

* * *

Three long and irritating hours later, Madeline's shift was finally over. Now, all she had to do was walk to the parking garage she was forced to park her car in. Unfortunately for her, when she arrived at seven-thirty in the morning, nearly all the spots she normally used were filled by other people. She must've been delirious at that point because she had let out the fakest laugh she could muster, along with a fake smile, and said, "That's just great!" to nobody in particular.

Madeline left the café with a small wave as she walked out the door, but nobody noticed her gesture. Realistically, it really couldn't be qualified as a wave. It looked more like she was swatting a gnat out of her face.

Madeline headed towards the parking garage with eyes half closed, too stubborn to admit she almost walked into three streetlight poles.

Once the parking garage appeared in her line of sight, her pace quickened. Making a right, she was almost overjoyed to see her Camaro. But what made her eyes widen was not the Camaro, but the truck that sat just right of it.

Madeline approached the two cars and took a moment to observe the truck. Whoever owned it must've bought it purely to repair it, because it looked as if it went right through hell and back. Dust covered every inch of the thing, and was littered with dents.

She almost felt bad for it.

Madeline backed away from the truck and rounded the Camaro, hand reaching out for the door handle when a car rounded a corner and entered the parking garage.  
Madeline turned, then froze.

A police car.

The windows were heavily tinted, so she couldn't see who was inside, but the car just seemed to radiate a bad vibe.

Madeline's mind was already filled with all sorts of bad outcomes if she ended up getting arrested. Her father hasn't called her in a while, but if she was arrested, he'd be the first one to make her phone ring.

Maybe she was just being paranoid.

The car drove past her at a slow pace, but it looked like it was making a very careful effort to make sure there was a good, safe distance between them.

Then, as if the person inside realized Madeline wasn't the one they were searching for, the car raced off and out of the parking garage.

Madeline let out a large breath of air, realizing she had been holding it the entire time.

Well, the anxiety of feeling like you're about to be arrested sure woke Madeline up.

* * *

June 31, 2018

"Aira. For the last time. Geckos and lizards are _not_ the same thing."

Aira looked up from the small wrench she was holding and narrowed her eyes. She tossed the wrench to the ground and used her hands to turn herself a fraction to the left on top of the Camaro's hood. She tilted her head at her sister who was sitting on the ground whilst resting against a wooden pillar, typing away on her computer.

"Your opinion is invalid." Aira said after a moment of silence, but her voice told Madeline that wasn't what she really wanted to say.

Madeline squinted and looked up at Aira. "What do you mean, _opinion_?" She began, tone sounding similar to disgust. "It's a fact, you complete idiot."

"Uh-huh." Aira replied half-heartedly, ignoring the insult altogether. She leaned back against the windshield and crossed her arms, eyebrows knitting together when she heard Madeline start furiously typing. "What are you doing?"

"Lizards are reptiles of the order Squamata, normally possessing four legs, external ear openings and movable eyelids." Madeline started, using the voice Aira knew as _I'm-right-and-you're-wrong._ Aira groaned. "Geckos are small to average sized lizards belonging to the family Gekkonidae which are found in warm climates throughout the world."

Aira shook her head. "You read that directly off the internet. I can smell the plagiarism from here." She uncrossed her arms then folded her hands behind her head. "Plus, it said right there that geckos are small to average sized lizards." She pointed out.

"You're killin' me Smalls." She groaned. "Where else would I read it? A food label?" Madeline retorted. "Even so, they _are_ different." Madeline argued. "Don't be sour, Aira. You just think oranges and blood oranges are the same."

"What? No I don't!" Aira retorted quickly, sitting up again.

Madeline smirked. "Exactly. It sounds stupid now that I put it into a different context."

Aira scoffed and rested stiffly against the windshield again. Aira didn't reply for at least three minutes. "How long have we been arguing over this?"

"Longer than we should have been." Madeline replied, shutting the laptop. She stood and placed the computer on a nearby folding table. "I need to go to the bank."

"Oh nice, I've been needing to go for a while now." Aira said, stretching out on the hood. Madeline almost cringed.

"For a while? Why? Because you've been spending it on unnecessary items at parties you're always going to?" Madeline said quickly, watching as Aira's face morphed into a frown before it changed to a smirk.

"Don't be mad at me because you barely get out." Aira shot back smugly.

"Whatever. It's getting dark, if we're going, we need to go now."

* * *

The drive to the bank was silent, as well as the trip inside. The bank closest to their house didn't have one of those drive-thru atms, which was one of the many things on Aira and Madeline's list of _Things to Complain About._

Aira, being an easily distracted person, somehow got separated from Madeline for only a moment, and somehow managed to get in line behind the atm with four people in between her and Madeline. Despite how hard Madeline tried not to, she kept looking behind her and making faces at her little sister, which Aira shot back just as easily as Madeline sent them.

Getting money from the bank was something that wasn't exactly fun, especially for Aira. Around friends, she's a fun person. Around strangers, she might as well be a shy, five year old child that hides behind their mother's legs when someone tries to talk to them. Aira kept looking around, making sure she didn't end up staring at someone by accident. She felt like she was being watched, and Aira told herself it was just her anxiety, and successfully calmed herself down. She decided to keep her eyes trained on the ground, waiting patiently as the line for the atm slowly moved forward.

Madeline was able to obtain her money soon enough, and walked back to Aira just to tell her she was headed back to the car. Aira's eyes widened at that, and immediately begged for her to stay. Madeline shook her head, and sternly told Aira that she was seventeen, and should be able to get money from an atm without "parental guidance". Aira cursed at her, but Madeline just laughed and walked out the bank's doors.

The thought of running out of line legitimately crossed Aira's mind.

Madeline waited at the crosswalk to cross the street, then walked a few feet and turned into the parking garage where her Camaro was parked. Stashing the money away in her wallet then shoving her wallet into her back pocket, Madeline just now realized how many parking garages are around the city she lived in. Madeline headed down a row of cars, slowing to halt when she came up on the parking spot where she was sure she left her car.

The parking spot was empty.

Madeline turned in place, looking around for any yellow car in the parking garage. When none was found, Madeline's hands flew up to her head, one placed on either side. _Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit._

There were too many cars around with the probability of someone being inside for Madeline to call out for Bee, so she forced herself to remain quiet. Pivoting again, her eyes landed on a slow moving car. The police car. Again.

Perhaps this police officer could help. The car seemed to be approaching her, so Madeline waited until the car was close enough to hear her if she spoke. "Uh, could you help me? I can't find my car." The request seemed stupid once spoken out loud, but at this point, Madeline didn't care. The car rolled up to Madeline and stopped next to her. The window didn't roll down, but that didn't stop Madeline. "Hey, I just really need someo-"

Madeline was unable to finish her sentence, because something shot out from the tire, or that's where Madeline thought it came from, and slammed into her legs, successfully knocking her down. Her right elbow took most of the impact, and luckily her head didn't hit the concrete. But her chin did.

Madeline groaned and raised a hand to feel the damage. As soon as she attempted to push herself up, the police car next to her transformed and stood tall. To Madeline, it sounded like the thing exploded in her ears. Madeline's head immediately turned upwards to look at the robot, and her eyes locked with it's red optics.

Now this, is a Decepticon.

Without a second thought, Madeline rolled away from the Decepticon and scrambled backwards, the robot advancing on her in wide and staggered steps.

"Get away from me." Madeline attempted to yell while scrambling backwards, but it only came out in a breathless plead. The Decepticon used its hand to shove two cars out of the way so it could get closer. Madeline watched with both amazement and fear as the robot easily crushed the cars with a single shove.

Madeline stood up and turned in the time the Decepticon took to get through the few cars and starting sprinting, zig zagging through more cars and the pillars that held the second level of the parking garage.

It looked like it was working well enough, but the Decepticon seemed to get angry at the fact Madeline was gaining some distance between them, and started running faster with longer strides. Madeline could practically feel the ground shaking, and couldn't help but let out a scream loud enough that it hurt her throat, yet it was still almost drowned out by the Decepticon's even louder metallic growling. Glass and pieces of metal from damaged cars flew around Madeline, causing her to duck and shield her head with her hands as she ran.

The Decepticon got within arm's length of Madeline, and used his right hand to back hand Madeline to end her fleeing. Madeline went flying, pain exploding in her left side. She landed sideways on a nearby car, her arms coming up to shield her face. The windshield that broke her fall cracked spiderweb style upon impact.

Madeline slowly moved out of her protective fetal position, then tried to back up closer to the windshield when the Decepticon approached her. Before Madeline could even utter a word, the Decepticon's hands raised and slammed down on either side of the broken car to prevent Madeline from escaping again. She swore that the car's front end lifted because of the Decepticon's force.

 _"Did you receive the number code 2244867?"_ The Decepticon suddenly screamed at her. The con's deep voice startled Madeline.

"What? W-What are you talking about?" Madeline stuttered, desperately wanting this robot to just calm down.

 _"Did you receive the number code 2244867?"_ He repeated, leaning closer to Madeline as if that would make her reveal the answer. And it did, but because his voice sounded much more exasperated and angry than it did the first time.

"Yes, I did!" Madeline flinched, showing her palms in surrender. "What about it?"

 _"Do you have the flash drive?"_

Madeline shook her head. "No- what flash drive?"

The Decepticon let out an angered, metallic growl again, and raised his right fist to slam it down on top of Madeline. Well, acting clueless sure didn't work with this robot. Madeline screamed before rolling left and off the hood of the car, her kneecaps feeling the most pain from the action. She again used her hands to shield her head from the glass and metal that scattered around her when the robot's fist connected with the car. The Decepticon made a noise of disappointment at his effort, and moved to do it again, but Madeline was already up and running. At this point, Madeline's legs were burning and her lungs hurt.

Madeline was baffled that nobody noticed her life was being threatened that very moment.

Madeline made a beeline straight for the large opening of the parking garage, flinching at whatever the Decepticon behind her said. It sounded like get back here, but Madeline wasn't listening.

Running out and stopping at the edge of the sidewalk, Madeline ran right into Aira who just crossed the street. "Madeline? Why are you breathing so heavy?" Aira asked, steadying her older sister by grabbing her shoulders.

"We need...to go...right now." Madeline said in between large breaths, pulling Aira, who was resisting, down the sidewalk.

"What? Why? Madeline what's going on? Did you get into a fight?" Aira asked, tugging her arm out of Madeline's grip before her eyes landed on the nasty-looking scrape on her chin.

Madeline looked behind Aira with wide eyes. "You could say that." Aira narrowed her eyes before she turned around to see the Decepticon shove its way through the parking garage's opening, the ceiling and sides breaking from the force.

Aira automatically screamed, grabbing the Decepticon's attention. A few cars driving by swerved, causing the girls to flinch away from the street. The Decepticon moved towards them, when suddenly a flash of yellow drifted and knocked the Decepticon off its feet, causing more destruction. Though, the Camaro's close proximity to the girls as it sped past caused them to instinctly move away, yet they tripped over themselves and fell to the sidewalk.

Madeline looked up and saw the car drive closer and the doors swing open. "Aira, get in the car." Madeline said quickly, pulling Aira to her feet. Despite Aira's protests of getting closer to the aggressive robot, Madeline managed to get Aira into the passenger seat while Madeline sat herself in the other.

The car's wheels automatically started turning, causing smoke to be produced while the Camaro pulled away from the scene at a high speed. Aira reached up to grab the grab handle, or as she liked to call it, the Oh Shit handle, as soon as the car went over the speed limit. Madeline just grabbed the seat with her right hand and her left splayed out against the window to lessen the pain from sharp turns.

Aira looked over at her sister for a split second, then did a double take. "Madeline! Hands on the wheel!"

"They don't have to be!" Madeline shot back quickly, then cringed. Well, there goes the secret.

"Excuse me? Last time I checked we aren't in a Tesla Model X!" Aira shouted, looking over her shoulder and through the back windshield to see the police car chasing after them. Madeline was surprised that her sister didn't even noticed that her foot wasn't on the gas pedal. "We're gonna die."

The Camaro took the girls down streets they've never been, swerving and avoiding other cars in attempt to get rid of the trailing Decepticon. Soon enough, they arrived at a power plant. Who knows what time it was, but the sky was dark, and made the whole thing more tedious.

Bee pulled into the power plant, forcing himself through the locked, wired fence. Aira had let out a short, frightened scream before the car even connected with the fence. The car pulled into a dead end, turned around then shut off completely.

"Madeline." Aira started quietly, but her deep breaths were far from quiet. "What is going on?"

"I'll explain it la-" Madeline started, then cut herself off as the police car rolled slowly into their line of sight, driving past them until he stopped far enough that Madeline could only see the trunk of the car. "Bee, we need to go now."

"Who's _Bee_?" Aira hissed with the tone as if a girl just saw her boyfriend get a text from a girl she didn't know.

The Camaro roared to life as if it answered Aira's question and drove forward, reaching over sixty miles an hour in only a matter seconds. Bee squeezed himself through the Decepticon and the wall just as the Decepticon attempted to back into him as he drove past.

He drove over to a somewhat open area, skidding to a stop with the doors flying open. On instinct, the girls both scrambled out of the car. Bee transformed then, slamming his fist down on the ground. Aira stumbled backwards with a silent gasp, obviously frightened. Madeline just looked up at him from her spot on the ground.

Once standing completely straight, Bee slid into a fighting stance in front of the girls, watching as the Decepticon drove at him, jumped, and transformed in midair. The Decepticon tackled him, and both bots flew over Madeline and Aira. As soon as they heard the impact, Madeline huddled into a ball on the dirt ground and Aira practically dove for the ground and screamed, the Decepticon's foot narrowly missing her head.

Regaining some of her composure, Aira unsteadily ran over to Madeline and grabbed her bicep with two hands, tugging her to her feet. "We need to go, now."

The sounds of metal clashing and almost everything breaking filled the sister's ears as they ran away from the fight and out of the power plant. Madeline was amazed Aira didn't scream at that. A small hill came up, and both slid down hand in hand. Stopping at the bottom, Aira turned to Madeline and grabbed her shoulders again.

"You need to call that government number right now!" Aira practically ordered, fear apparent in her eyes.

Madeline's eyes knitted together sadly, before shaking her head. "No, Aira. Wait-"

Aira cut her off with a sound of disbelief. "Are you being serious?" She flung her arm in the direction of the fighting robots. "We need to get those things out of here! Especially your Camaro that's been with us for how long? We can use the money, Madeline!"

"No! We can't do that to him!"

" _Him?_ Wait, you knew about that thing being your car?" Aira spoke with a tone that sounded almost like distrust. Aira folded her arms tightly, as if she were cold. Her entire posture was ridged with either betrayal or anger.

Madeline looked away and looked just about as agitated as Aira was. "Yes. And he's not a _thing_."

Aira's eyes narrowed accusingly. "I knew it. I knew you were hiding something. All those times you involuntarily hung out in the barn, which you never used to, or everytime I did something to the Camaro, you always gave me a look."

"Aira, please-"

Aira's arms fell to her sides. "You are dealing with an alien robot that comes from who knows where! And you're just going to let it live in our barn?"

"He's my friend, Aira!" Madeline hissed. "I can't let the government just take him away for whatever reason they believe!"

Aira looked down at the ground. "How long have you known?" Her voice was quieter, as if she was defeated.

Madeline thought for a moment. "A while." She replied just as quietly.

Aira remained silent.

It was then Madeline realized the sounds of the battle died down, and the only thing that could be heard was heavy footsteps. Aira looked up and stepped back at the sight of the Autobot stopping at the top of the hill to stand nonchalantly, as if nothing at all happened beforehand, waiting patiently for whatever was going to happen next. Aira almost got angry at that.

Madeline turned and offered a smile, and moved his way. Aira reached out an attempt to grab her sister's arm again but missed, and hissed Madeline's name through clenched teeth. "Don't go near him!"

Bee looked away slightly and acted as if he hadn't heard anything. "He's not going to hurt me, Aira. He had every chance to kill me if he wanted to." She replied matter-of-factly, her tone sounding tired.

Bumblebee looked like he was thinking; like he couldn't figure out why he'd want to hurt or kill Madeline in the first place.

"Oh, and you can speak alien robot?" Aira shot back quietly, hands balling into fists.

Madeline ignored her sister and turned back around, making her way up the hill. "Bumblebee, meet Aira. Aira, meet Bumblebee." She introduced half-heartedly, waving her hand between the two.

Bumblebee gave a tiny wave to Aira, who just narrowed her eyes in a distrusting way. After a moment, Aira walked a few steps closer. "So, I'm guessing you're one of the good ones?"

Bee nodded.

"Why are you hanging around us? I'm sure you have intergalactic things to take care of, right?" Aira asked, looking up at him with squinted eyes because of the bright lights.

Bumblebee gave a slow shake of his head. _"Not at the moment. No."_ Madeline couldn't tell if that was sarcasm or not.

Madeline crossed her arms. "I'll explain everything once we get home, Aira." She said finally, trying to stop Aira's curiosity. Madeline was sure the questions were building off of her previous anger.

"Sure, but why us? Why Madeline, more specifically." Aira continued, arms crossing. "We're literally teenage girls. I remember at the dealership, you broke those windows. You did it on purpose, didn't you?"

Bee looked down at Madeline instead of answering, and Madeline just shrugged. _"Story / for another time."_ Bee replied at last, then crouched down to transform back to the Camaro. _"Any more questions you want to ask?"_

"Alright, alright." Aira groaned, walking the rest of the way up the hill and hesitantly getting into the passenger side.

As they drove away from the power plant and got back onto the main streets, the tension between the sisters seem to ease up. Making a left turn, Aira leaned her head against the window. "You'd think he'd pick a better disguise car." She mumbled.

Madeline looked over at Aira, a brow raised. "Huh?"

"1977 Chevrolet Camaro? It's 2018, why not a more recent car? He'd blend in better."

Madeline bit her lip, not quite understanding what Aira was being sour about. "But, he-"

"Yeah, it might be good looking, but then again, kinda ugly at the same time." Aira tried to explain, completely disregarding Madeline's attempt to speak.

Before Madeline could try to say anything, Bee suddenly made a sharp turn, the seatbelt disconnecting and Aira's door flinging open. Aira automatically fell out, groaning from the hard impact onto the asphalt. Madeline was almost thrown out of her own seat from the sudden action.

The radio switched on. _"I don't fuck with you-"_

The door slammed shut, and Bee drove off, leaving Aira on the side of the road. "Wait! Bumblebee I didn't mean it!" Aira stood and tried running after the car, but stopped after a few feet. When she realized she couldn't catch up to the car, she cursed and walked to the sidewalk. She stopped under a streetlight and clutched her sides.

Once Madeline stopped her silent laughing, she reached forward and patted the dashboard "It's okay, Bee. Don't listen to Aira."

Bee drove down a tunnel, and Madeline realized that he was making no indication that he'd turn around. "Bee, we can't leave her there."

 _"Little stupid ass bitch-"_

Madeline frowned and gave the roof a punch that didn't have much force. "Don't be an asshole. Turn around." When he could, Bee did just that. Madeline snickered as the car headed back to Aira, who still stood on the side of the road with a permanent glare on her face.

When the door swung open, she leaned down to look at Madeline. "Looks like someone's sensitive." She sneered.

Madeline shrugged. "You're the one who insulted him."

 _"Get in the car."_

Aira's eyes widened. "Was that my voice?"

* * *

July 1, 2018

It was easy to say that Madeline was more than happy to escape her little town for the weekend. Really, she'd be willing to do pretty much anything to get away from both the robot that attacked her and Aira's constant unwillingness to understand or even listen to whatever came out of Madeline's mouth. Whether it be about the Autobot or what they were having for dinner.

Both the girls refused to talk about the accident with the Decepticon, as both view the whole situation as a little traumatizing. It was fine not having to talk about it, though, because there was no way Madeline was going to mention anything about witnessing it to anybody else. Especially Rebecca.

Really, all the damage that was caused in town and at the power plant was probably already on the news, plus those who saw the Decepticon burst out of the parking garage.

Madeline could already tell from her behavior that Bumblebee and she weren't going to get along quickly, even if Bee was welcoming. Aira was always a stubborn person in general, but now the entire situation just multiplied it by a hundred. There would also be a chance that Aira would call the government herself, since she knew for a fact Madeline wouldn't do it. Though, so far, Aira made no indication she was going to.

Aira wouldn't admit it, but the only reason she wasn't going to call the government was because when Madeline was packing a small bag for the trip to the lake, she snuck to the barn unseen and confronted the Camaro. She had stopped almost directly in front of Bee, placed her hands on her hips, and asked, "You won't let anything hurt Madeline on this trip, right?"

Bee replied with, _"Promise."_

With that, Aira had exited the barn feeling only a little more confident. Aira wasn't worried about herself being attacked by another robot thing, since the robot in the barn would be elsewhere, thus attracting any enemies away from their house.

Logical.

Moving forward, Rebecca had arrived shortly after and walked up to Aira to strike up a conversation while waiting for Madeline. Being a good person for once, Aira directed the conversation away from anything mechanical. Once Madeline came out, she had said a short goodbye to Aira, then she and Rebecca had pulled away with the Camaro.

As of now, Madeline was driving down the highway while Rebecca was singing along with _Reflections_ by Misterwives. Quite poorly, Madeline might add.

And at this point, she knew it was on purpose. Instead of the nice and flowy singing Rebecca had the talent of, Madeline was now experiencing Rebecca screaming the lyrics out the open window of the passenger door. In all seriousness, Rebecca's voice was far from pleasant in this scenario. It sounded gravelly, and straining. She was probably just purely screaming.

 _"PUT ME ON THE SHELF, DISCIPLINE MYSELF, TO LET THE SPARKS DIE OUT-"_ She abruptly cut herself off and ducked so she couldn't be seen from outside the car.

Madeline, who was having a hard time keeping a straight face and focusing on the road, took a deep breath and took a quick moment to look at cowering Rebecca. "What's wrong?" Madeline asked.

Rebecca slowly rose back up, searching out the window for something, or someone. When she couldn't find it, she relaxed then chuckled. "Someone laughed at my singing." She admitted.

Madeline was now almost at the point of dissolving into laughter. "I don't know if I'd call that singing, to be completely honest."

"Hey, don't rain on my parade." Rebecca replied, then continued with her obnoxious screaming. Her head was almost out the window at this point, and the wind was drowning out most of it. Though, Madeline assumed Bee could hear it quiet clearly, and was probably getting a headache.

If Transformers got headaches.

It continued on like this for a while, until _Only Girl_ by Rihanna came on and Madeline joined in. Madeline made sure she'd apologize later. Dancing was involved, and Madeline wasn't sure how many times she or Rebecca hit their heads roughly against the headrest.

It was difficult to act like your car was just a... _car_.

Two hours later, the girls had stopped their singing and Rebecca had fallen asleep, fortunately for Bumblebee. Though, when they entered a small town, Rebecca had woken at the smell of food, and looked at the time.

"Hey, we've been driving for a while. Do you need gas?" She asked, rubbing her eyes. She looked down and opened her phone to open the directions Madeline had been listening to for the past hour. "My phone says there's one coming up."

Madeline looked down at the gas meter overtop of the steering wheel and grimaced only slightly. The meter showed the tank to be practically full. Of course. "Uh, yeah." Madeline began, leaning back into her seat. "I'm nearing...empty."

Rebecca had completely missed Madeline's blatant lie and just yawned. "Cool, I'm going to head into that small store to get something to drink." And when they stopped, Rebecca did just that.

Madeline held the gas pump and just looked around awkwardly before whispering, "Do you even need gas?"

The radio switched on. _"No."_

That was almost a stupid question to begin with. She knew Transformers didn't need gas, they probably had something else that kept them going. But, she didn't know what would happen if she actually pumped gas into the tank. Would it do nothing? Would it kill the Transformer? Would it act like a drug?

Well, right now, Madeline didn't want to take any chances. Sighing, she just decided to act like she placed the pump into the gas tank. She might as well, she was sort of stuck between two cars.

What happened next almost made Madeline scream just out of embarrassment. _"-woah!"_ It would have been wrong to say Madeline didn't trip in place while standing, but it's what happened.

She pulled the gas pump away from the tank, shut the opening, and crouched down in one smooth move. Her was heart racing. "The fuck are you doing?" She said so quickly, that the words were practically jumbled together to make one. "Quit it!" She hissed.

 _"You did it."_ Bee replied. Madeline could almost see the smug expression.

Anyhow, she couldn't really argue. "Where is this even on your body?" She whispered, almost sounding regretful.

 _"Take a wild guess."_ That sounded like something off of Family Feud.

Madeline groaned and hit her forehead against the Camaro, before jumping at the sound of Rebecca's confused voice. "Maddie? What are you doing?" She was holding a plastic bag and two bottles of coke.

Madeline looked up slowly with a weird grin. "There was this massive fuckin'...bird. You would've ran for cover too. _Guaranteed_."

The radio turned from whatever station it was on and played a clip of an audience laughing and clapping at a comedian. Madeline just gave a very strained smile.  
Rebecca, on the other hand, was grinning. "Your radio still bein' buggy?"

Madeline nodded. "Very much so." On second thought, Madeline might refrain from apologizing.

* * *

Another two hours later, Rebecca and Madeline had finally arrived at the small cabin located near the lake. Unfortunately, it was dark when they got there, and Rebecca went straight to bed. She wouldn't be missing much; the girls had the entire day of Saturday, Sunday, and most of Monday, since both were able to get off on the same day.

Rebecca wanted to give Madeline her present, but was out like a light as soon as she hit one of the beds.

However, Madeline was actually full of energy, unfortunately for her, and had been laying in her cot for about an hour just staring at the ceiling before finally giving in to her inner want, and left the cabin. She walked towards the lake and stopped on the bank, head tilting to look at the stars. Surprisingly enough, the moon provided enough light to see pretty clearly.

Unsurprisingly enough, the Camaro followed.

Spinning in place, Madeline crossed her arms and squinted into the darkness that surrounded the yellow car. What really confused her, was how Bumblebee was able to get through the forest.

"How did I know you'd follow me?" She asked, sounding a little unimpressed.

 _"Common sense."_ Was that her voice from when she accidentally spoke out loud and claimed people need glasses with the prescription common sense? Madeline almost laughed.

"Uh-huh." Madeline drummed her fingers on her bicep. "Well, tell me, how'd you like Rebecca's singing?" She switched topics quickly, eager to hear his answer. Really, she'd been wanting to hear his reaction ever since Rebecca started.

 _"Lord have mercy."_

She laughed at the voice Bumblebee chose to respond with, but then made a noise that sounded like fake disbelief. "What? You don't like pure screaming?" Madeline teased.

His response was the sound of switching through multiple different stations, but never landed on one before he went quiet.

"Yeah, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to stop that. So, be prepared to hear it again."

There was no verbal response, but the Camaro backed up a few feet into the forest.

"Hey, don't act like I'm the one that's screaming out the window like an idiot."

Bee just backed up until Madeline could no longer see the car.

Madeline just laughed and let her arms fall to her sides, before jogging after the Camaro. "I have to get around somehow, Bee!"

* * *

 _ **Ah, over six thousand words. It's an oddly nice feeling.**_

 _ **Again, hope you enjoyed, and I hope you know what vine I referenced from "sydney ok". c:  
Strange addictions is the weirdest show. I want to know it they're all just actors getting paid a lot, or there are really some strange addictions. **_

_**Any who, yay some action, and that's all for now.**_

 _ **\- Pastel**_


	5. Dynamic Duo

**_These reviews are making me so happy! I'm glad you like my story; like I said before, I was iffy about this because stuff like this makes me anxious, unfortunately. But receiving positive feedback gives me confidence, so again, thank you so much!_**

 ** _This particular chapter was fun to write; probably because it's the last chapter that Madeline thinks everything is fine and dandy. Next chapter is where all the good stuff happens. It's not my best though, eh._**

 ** _I apologize for any mistakes, enjoy the chapter!_**

 ** _\- Pastel_**

* * *

 _ **Bond that can't Bee Broken**_

 _ **Chapter 5: Dynamic Duo**_

July 2, 2018

Madeline and Rebecca were sitting on top of the Camaro's hood, watching as their campfire crackled and popped while listening to the radio that was quietly playing. Despite the warm night, the girls wore sweatshirts with a blanket wrapped around both their shoulders.

The night was peaceful; a perfect way to end a long day. The entire day they were out and about, either hanging around at the lake, shopping at a small store for a small amount of food or just plain running around. They even took a hike (which Madeline complained about because it took _forever_ to finish), and they were rewarded with a beautiful view of the lake.

Rebecca had teased Madeline about her complaints, and claimed that difficult roads lead to beautiful destinations. Madeline then teased Rebecca for using a corny quote off the internet. Nothing could be better at that moment. Well, one thing could be better. And that was silence.

Rebecca was back at it again with her singing. Or screaming. Except, she was being a little more conscious of those around her, and her screaming was lowered to about a six on a scale from one to ten. It didn't make much of a difference to Madeline, though. It still sounded almost deafening. Aira wouldn't be proud.

 _"Staring at the blank page before you_  
 _Open up the dirty window_  
 _Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find_  
 _Reaching for something in the distance_  
 _So close you could almost taste it_  
 _Release your inhibitions!"_

"Stop, you're gonna get us in trouble!" Madeline tried to end Rebecca's...karaoke, but her pleads didn't sound very forceful. Probably because she was laughing by the end of her sentence, and was smiling ever since Rebecca started.

 _"Feel the rain on your skin!_  
 _No one else can feel it for you_  
 _Only you can let it in!_  
 _No one else, no one else!"_

"Rebecca, it's eleven o'clock at night!" Madeline hissed, but Rebecca only wrapped her arms around her friend and leaned into her, eyes closed while she sang. Well, at least her voice didn't sound strained. This time, it sounded a little closer to her real singing voice.

 _"Can speak the words on your lips_  
 _Drench yourself in words unspoken_  
 _Live you life with arms wide open_  
 _Today is where your book begins_  
 _The rest is still unwritten!"_

 _"Keep it down, will ya?"_

The girls froze almost instantly, eyes wide while the radio filled the silence. It almost seemed awkward at that point. Well, that put an end to Rebecca's heartfelt singing. There was only a few more seconds of silence before they burst into laughter.

Madeline linked her arm with Rebecca's. "I told you we'd get in trouble. We're not the only people in the world."

"Well, of course not. But summer is only so long. You gotta do whatever makes you happy before you're tied down to a seat surrounded by other people you don't like in college." Rebecca replied wisely, swinging her feet and leaning her head against Madeline's.

Madeline nodded in agreement, realizing how fast summer was already coming to an end. She toyed with the sleeve of Rebecca's red sweatshirt. "Yeah, or people just don't like Natasha Bedingfield."

Rebecca squinted into the fire. "How could you not?"

Madeline just shrugged and untangled herself from Rebecca before letting herself fall back against the hood, raising her arms in a small stretch. Rebecca made a small noise of protest when the blanket was pulled off her shoulders. "They probably did. Until they heard you singing it."

A karate chop to the stomach caused Madeline to sit up faster than she's ever had before. Instead of apologizing, Rebecca just laughed, then abruptly cut herself off, causing Madeline to laugh just because of her worried expression. "Shit! Is it still July 2nd?"

Madeline pulled her phone out of her back pocket and turned it on to check the time. "It was...five minutes ago."

"That works." Rebecca slid off the hood and rounded the car, opening the passenger door and reaching into the back seat. "I forgot to give this to you earlier." Rebecca informed, her voice slightly muffled. When she returned to Madeline side, she grinned. "Happy belated birthday."

Madeline took the gift from Rebecca's hands as she hopped back up onto the hood. "Aw, you shouldn't have." She replied, returning the grin.

"I shouldn't do a lot of things, but here we are."

Madeline rolled her eyes and unwrapped the gift, throwing the wrapping paper into the fire. Then, opening the clothing box, she instantly frowned. But Rebecca didn't miss the small smile on her friend's lips. "What is this?"

"We're going to swim tomorrow," she paused, thinking for a moment. "Well, actually today. And you and I both know your forgetful ass didn't bring a bathing suit." Rebecca said matter-of-factly, crossing her arms.

Madeline picked up the two piece swimsuit and held it up. "There is no way I'm wearing this. It's too...revealing."

"Bikinis don't really have the job of a sweatshirt and sweatpants, correct me if I'm wrong."

Madeline glared at the girl next to her. "Rebecca."

"Madeline."

 _"Rebecca."_

"We're gonna have so much fun! I even brought pool noodles and everything!"

Madeline sat the swimsuit back into the box and sighed. Sometimes she really thought she was friends with an eight year old. "Why am I not surprised?"

* * *

July 3, 2018

Rebecca and Madeline went to sleep soon after the present dilemma, and woke up around ten o'clock. Rebecca was the one to get up first and pack whatever she thought would be fun to use at the lake, and even had time to get into her bathing suit and put a tank top and shorts over top. Or in other words, she was being productive.

It took her about another ten minutes to get Madeline fully awake and dressed, so it was probably around eleven when they left the cabin. Really, Madeline was awake when Rebecca first started getting stuff together, but decided to fall back to sleep instead of do the same. Madeline flat out refused to wear the swimsuit, so Rebecca shoved it in her bag without her knowing before they left. Though, it wasn't long until Madeline noticed it sticking out of her bag when the were driving down the road. Madeline wasn't very happy about that.

The reason for having to drive was because Rebecca claimed they should go elsewhere, to a better part of the lake; but it would take a while to walk there. Madeline wasn't going to protest driving anywhere, anyway. Except for the fact their only conversation was the argument over the stupid swimsuit. Madeline was begging, and Rebecca didn't take the situation seriously at all.

And despite Madeline's strong protests, she eventually caved. Once they arrived, Rebecca had already shed her outerwear to reveal her own swimsuit and was walking around in the shallow part of the lake by the time Madeline was finally climbing into the back seat of the Camaro.

"I'd like to apologize beforehand because," she paused, "I'm about to be naked inside of you." Madeline said absently, grimacing while shedding her shirt. Transformers could see inside themselves, right? Just in case, she moved over until she was hidden behind one of the front seats.

 _"...what?"_

Madeline was sure that would be the most confused and quiet response she would ever get out of the Autobot. When Madeline returned to the driver's seat about five minutes later, she almost grinned. "We're officially the closest beings on the planet. Be proud."

Rebecca almost instantly noticed that Madeline was done changing. She raised her arms up then motioned for Madeline to come out. "Would you get out here, already? You're wastin' daylight!"

Madeline groaned and opened the door and stepped out, but continued to hide behind the Camaro's door. "I am not wearing this out here!" She called.

Rebecca crossed her arms. "You already are!"

"And I'm going to take it off!"

Rebecca pointed in Madeline's direction. "Don't you dare!" She called out, then placed her hands on her hips. "You're so conservative, Maddie."

"I happen to like that about myself, thank you very much."

Unbeknownst to the two girls, Bee was quite enjoying their argument. It was entertaining; at least, under his terms. Is this what people argued about normally?

"Madeline Anne Taylor, if you don't get in this water right now, I'll come over there and grab you myself!" Rebecca threatened, already moving towards the shore.

Madeline tightened her grip on top of the door and leaned forward slightly with a grin. "I'd like to see you try!"

Rebecca was already slipping on her flip flops when Madeline challenged her, and almost on instinct, she turned and ran at Madeline. Madeline shut the Camaro door and spun around, promptly running away from Rebecca.

Both girls didn't know how long they were running around the forest surrounding the lake, but they were both breathing heavily by the time Rebecca finally managed to get hold of Madeline. During this, they also managed to get a few other's attention, which is exactly what Madeline _didn't_ want.

When they returned to the lake, it was easy to say that Rebecca basically threw Madeline into the water. Madeline could already tell what Rebecca was going to do beforehand, so she was struggling in Rebecca's death grip and begging for her to _not_ throw her in the water. However, none of that worked. Madeline sprung up then, wrapping her arms around herself. "It's so cold!"

Rebecca waved a dismissive hand. "You get used to it." Rebecca then sat down like the water was at perfect temperature, the water raising until it came just above her chest. "Don't look so uncomfortable."

Madeline, who still stood up with the water at her waist, tightened her grip on her arms and glared at her surroundings. "Who says I'm not?"

Rebecca sent a small wave of water towards Madeline, and received a frown because of it. "Nobody's even looking at you!"

Madeline looked past Rebecca and nearly made eye contact with a group of people not too far from them. "Well…" She was about to agree with Rebecca, but when Rebecca turned around, she saw a group of boys looking at them, not the family Madeline was looking at.

Rebecca stood and raised her arms, giving them the look that said _what do you want?_ "Can I help you?" She asked in a threatening tone. Rebecca was victorious, because they looked away and awkwardly shuffled elsewhere. Rebecca turned around with a smug grin. "Boom. Now you can stop covering your chest."

"My hero."

* * *

After another successful day, Madeline and Rebecca had driven back to the cabin, changed their clothing, then drove back out an open area near a cliff to watch the sunset. While laying on top of the Camaro's hood, of course. In all seriousness, Madeline was starting to wonder if this either hurt, or just bothered him. If that was the case, Bee was a helluva an actor.

"If you were the last person on Earth, what would you do?" Rebecca asked, almost completely enraptured with the warm colored sunset.

"Roast marshmallows. Listen to music until my phone died. Wander around." Madeline replied tiredly, clasping her hands behind her head.

"Really? I'd be searching for those Transformer things." Rebecca admitted, taking out her phone to snap a picture.

Madeline was so close to laughing out loud. _My friend, you're laying on top of one right now._ "I'd think it'd be hard to find one, in all honesty. Plus, people tell me they're not all that friendly."

"People are people, of course they say they're not friendly." Rebecca said simply. "Humans are just afraid of whatever is bigger and has more power than them." Rebecca's tone was monotone, giving Madeline the impression she wasn't that impressed with humankind. "Besides, have you seen news? I'm sure it's not that hard since everyone is reporting sightings, trying to get that prize money and everything."

"I'd think the government or whoever is running this whole thing," Madeline waved her hands. "Is pretty irritated right now. Because so far, I've heard nothing about them killing a Transformer recently."

Rebecca snickered. "Right?"

"What would you do if you found one?" Madeline asked, eager to hear her answer.

"Befriend it."

"You wouldn't turn it in?"

"No. I'm not going to be apart of that part of society. Know what I mean?" Rebecca started, turning her head to look at Madeline. "What if you went to wherever they came from and they started hunting you down and killing you?"

"That'd probably happen." Madeline whispered.

"That's besides the point!" Rebecca blurted, smacking her forehead.

"Yes, I know what you mean." Madeline replied after she stopped laughing.

"What about you?"

Madeline's eyes widened. "Probably the same. I want to see if they break the stereotypes about them."

"They probably do. I bet some are nicer than some people I know."

Madeline let out a short laugh. "I wouldn't doubt it."

"Plus, the cars they turn into are fuckin' killer."

"Oh my god, Rebecca."

* * *

July 4, 2018

Rebecca and Madeline were both sour about the fact they had to leave earlier than what they originally planned on, because Rebecca's parents wanted her home for the Fourth of July. So, instead of leaving at four like they planned, they had to leave at nine.

It was almost a blessing that Rebecca and Madeline decided not to stay up late that night.

Madeline was still inside the cabin, busy with the job of gathering up the rest of her stuff, while Rebecca was finishing putting her backpack in the backseat of Madeline's car. Rebecca was just about to head back into the cabin when something on the side of the Camaro caught her eye.

A scratch.

This wasn't even her car and Rebecca was irritated. The scratch was long, so Rebecca followed it to the back of the car, and nearly gasped. The was another scratch, but not only that, a dent. "Hey, Maddie! Come here!"

Madeline exited the building and locked the door behind her, jogging over when she saw Rebecca's face. "What's wrong?"

"Look."

Madeline walked over to Rebecca's side, a frown immediately appearing on her face. "Ouch."

"Looks like a hit and run."

"I'll deal with it later." Madeline concluded grouchily. _I don't think anybody hit me_. "We should probably get going before your mom gets angry." Madeline said with a small smile, putting her own backpack in the backseat before sitting down in the driver's seat.

It wasn't until they got on the highway that Rebecca found out the radio no longer worked, either. "That sucks. I was _so_ planning on jamming out."

"Maybe it's the car's way of saying, _it's time to stop_." Madeline teased, but Rebecca just _hmphed_ and pulled out her phone.

"I've got just the thing to solve this problem."

"You're going to lose your voice."

"So?"

"For fuck's sake-"

 _"OOOOH I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY."_

* * *

Madeline made it her top priority to figure out what was wrong with Bumblebee as soon as she dropped Rebecca off. Really, a broken Autobot was not something she wanted to deal with. Hell, she didn't even know how to fix one.

As of now she was standing in front of the Camaro in the barn, doors shut firmly. "Come on, Bee. Up and at 'em." She clapped, then placed her right fist on her hip. Bee transformed then, looking about as tired as an Autobot could. Madeline changed her posture. "What happened to you?"

Bee just made a whirring noise, and that was when Madeline remembered that the radio was broken. Madeline crossed her arms. "Did you get into a fight?" The answer she got was a hesitant nod. Madeline looked at the ground. How did she not notice? As far as she knew, she wasn't that deep of a sleeper.

"Your radio is busted, that's why you can't speak right?" Bee nodded again. "I guess I'll work on that first." She moved from her spot to get a stepladder and some tools. "I don't really know how to fix the dent you got, but remember what Bobby says: ' _Nothing a sledgehammer can't fix'_." Madeline told Bee, smiling.

Bee shook his head as soon as she uttered the word _sledgehammer_. Madeline laughed, placing the stepladder in front of him and stepping up. "Don't worry. I'm sure even if I did, it wouldn't do much than just irritate you."

With that, she went to work. After she finally found out where the radio was located.

It wasn't until at least four hours later when Aira returned from wherever she was and broke Madeline's work streak. Of course, Madeline wasn't working in silence. She was rambling about whatever, whether Bee enjoyed listening to it or not. His attention never really strayed far from her, Madeline noticed, so she assumed he didn't hate it. She also found out that sitting or laying on his hood neither hurt or bothered him.

When Aira walked into the barn, she was very close to just walking out. For some reason, the Autobot's presence just annoyed her. Like most people at high school. "How did I know you'd be in here?" She asked with her hands on her hips, entering a staring contest with Bee as soon as the Autobot looked up.

"Lucky guess." Madeline replied without looking. "I'm working on his radio. It's messed up."

"Interesting." Aira replied half-heartedly, implying that Aira didn't think it was interesting at all. "How long have you been in here?"

"I...don't know."

"You know it's getting dark outside, right?"

"Is that why I keep hearing fireworks?" Madeline said, temporarily stopping to look over her shoulder.

Aira sighed. "Well, it you want to take a break, someone is setting off fireworks and you can see them really well from the top of the hill."

Madeline smiled. "I think I'm actually done, so that'll be fun." She stepped down from the stepladder and moved it back to its original spot, putting the tools back into their place as well. "Have you ever seen fireworks, Bee?" Half of the purpose of this question was to see if his radio worked.

 _"No."_

Madeline grinned. _Success!_

Well, Aira knew where this was going. Her head tilted so she looked at the ceiling, letting out a groan.

"Do you want to see?"

Aira and Madeline lead the way up the hill as the Camaro followed behind. Anybody else would think the scene looked ridiculous. Stopping at the top of the hill, Aira and Madeline sat down, looking over their shoulder to watch as Bee transformed then crouched. Seeing as he couldn't really sit, he carefully laid stomach-down on the hill. The sight itself made the sisters laugh.

When the first firework appeared, Bee watched as a small light sailed upwards then exploded into a hundred other flaming lights. He reacted defensively, his hand turning into a cannon of some sort and what looked like a battle mask slid down to cover his face. Aira and Madeline immediately stood up and stumbled away as Bumblebee pointed the cannon up in the air, watching cautiously as the red lights slowly fell back to the ground, or disappeared in the air altogether.

"Woah, woah." Madeline said quickly, holding up her hands. "Put the...cannon away. Fireworks don't do anything, they don't hurt you."

"Besides cause wildfires." Aira murmured.

"You're not helping."

Though, Madeline's small reassurance was enough to make Bee put away the plasma cannon and his battle mask to slide upwards to reveal his face. His apologetic expression made it hard to believe this particular Transformer used to be a war machine.

 _"Sorry."_

Aira shrugged and waved her hand. "Psh, it's fine. Shooting at fireworks is completely normal."

 _"I'm sensing sarcasm."_

Aira crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one side. "No, really?"

Before Madeline could but an end to their unnecessary banter, another large firework did it for her. After the large one, a series of small ones followed after it, showcasing all sort of warm and cool colors. Realizing this would go on for a bit, Madeline and Aira returned to their spots next to the Autobot, all the while watching the fireworks' performance.

Madeline eventually ended up leaning backwards and resting against Bumblebee's bicep, and Aira wound up the same way on Bumblebee's other side. No way in Hell was Madeline going to let Aira think that she was being sneaky. She'd definitely bring it up later.

When there was another small pause, Aira checked the time. She revealed it to be ten o'clock, then left promptly afterwards. This left Madeline and Bee to watch the rest of the firework show.

* * *

July 5, 2018

The last thing Madeline remembered when she woke up, was the sound of fireworks. The sun shining directly overhead was what woke her up, and the feeling of a stiff neck. Sitting up, she raised a hand to rub her neck, then turned her head to make eye contact with none other than Bumblebee.

 _"Good morning."_

Madeline squinted. _What?_ It wasn't until at least fifteen seconds later when her brain caught up with her that she remembered why they were there in the first place. She stood up, stumbling backwards on unsteady legs. "You were here all night?" Madeline practically shouted, rubbing one eye.

There was no response except a quiet whirring noise.

"You could have been seen!" Madeline tried to reason, but then realized her reasoning wasn't very alarming. They were surrounded by tall trees. The only way he could be spotted really would be up above, unless someone decided to travel miles into the forest to reach the hill. "Why didn't you wake me?"

 _"I didn't want to."_

Madeline felt like slapping her forehead. "Are you insane?"

 _"Probably."_

Madeline didn't know whether to be mad or to laugh, but a grin slowly made its way onto Madeline's face. "Good answer." She then started walking past Bee and down the hill, towards the barn. "Now come with me, I want to make a few adjustments to make sure your radio is fine."

 _"Already?"_

"I'm awake. Why not?"

* * *

Madeline's adjustments could hardly be called that. She was pretty much just accessing her work and making sure everything was in it's correct spot. And just as expected, everything seemed fine. When she done, she excused herself and walked to the house to grab something to eat.

Aira was sitting in the kitchen eating cereal while entertaining herself on her phone. Though, when she heard Madeline enter, she almost grinned robotically. "How was your Transformer pillow? Comfortable?"

Madeline squinted. Aira pretty much gave away that went back up the hill and checked on the both of them. Who knew what Bumblebee and Aira argued about then. "I could ask you the same, Aira." Madeline shot back smoothly.

"What are you talking about?" Aira mumbled, stirring her cereal with her spoon.

"Don't think I didn't see you last night, Aira. You aren't slick." Madeline replied, opening the fridge and taking a quick look inside before closing it and moving to the pantry.

"Excuse me, I wasn't the one who spent all night out on the hill using Bumblebee as metal bed." Aira countered, raising her cup of water to her mouth.

"I wasn't lying on _top_ of him, Aira." Madeline replied in an annoyed tone, unwrapping a granola bar before taking a bite.

"You might as well have been."

Madeline took another granola bar before walking past Aira, hitting her in the back of the head, causing Aira to curse at her and attempt to reach out and hit her back. She only accomplished scratching the air and cursing again when she knocked over her empty cup. "Talk to the hand." Madeline ordered as she walked out of the kitchen, holding her hand behind her.

"What are you, seven?" Aira called after her, setting the cup upright with a frown.

"I'm eleven, so shut the fuck up." Madeline shouted back, the last thing being heard was Aira's ugly laugh when she exited the house.

Madeline made her way back to the barn, finishing the last of her second granola bar. When she entered the barn, she was presented with Bee's alt. mode, but with a pretty, red Indian Paintbrush flower placed almost deliberately on the hood. As if someone else did it.

Depositing the granola bar's wrapper into a nearby trash can, she approached the car with a small smile and picked up the flower, admiring it while running a finger gentle over one of the petals. "Is this for me, or are you wanting to feel pretty?" Madeline teased, smile turning into a smirk.

She stepped back when Bee transformed and looked down at her with what looked like an unimpressed frown. _"It's a present."_ Bee stated. _"A late / one."_

Madeline's eyes widened at that. She was surprised, he must've picked up on Rebecca's actions when she gave her the swimsuit. But even then, she was surprised he even knew what a present was. Maybe she wasn't giving him enough credit, he was like, a million years old after all. How many times has Madeline had to remind herself that?

Madeline smiled up at the tall robot. "Thank you, Bee. That's really sweet of you. But, when did you even have time to get this? I was gone for like, five minutes." She asked, chuckling.

Bee slowly sat down. _"Don't worry about it."_

Madeline cocked a brow at him. "Should that concern me?"

 _"...no?"_

"You're not supposed to answer that particular question with a question, Bee." Madeline said, obviously amused. She laughed when Bee just looked away and waved his hand in a dismissive manner. After a moment, she jogged off to grab the step ladder from before and placed it in front of him, promptly stepping up to the top step. "Hey, Bee." She waved him closer. "I need to tell you something."

Bee gaved Madeline a weird look, as if he didn't understand why he had to lean down for her to tell him something. They were talking right now just fine. But Bee complied when she beckoned.

Madeline walked closer and used one hand to cup her mouth as if she was going to tell a secret, but instead of whispering, she placed a gentle kiss against his cheek plate then repeated her appreciation. "Thank you."

His reaction was one of the best she's gotten out of him every since she's known the Autobot. He immediately sat up straight and just looked plain embarrassed, and even his battle mask fell over his face. Madeline covered her mouth an attempt to curb her laughter, watching as the robot in front of her was practically melting. If Transformers could blush, she bet one-hundred percent he would be that very moment.

Aira arrived only a moment later, stopping abruptly out of confusion. Instead of asking what was going on, she cleared her throat to get Madeline's attention. "Hey Maddie," she paused. "Nice flower. I need you to take me to that smoothie place you and Rebecca went to before in your freakish car." She waved her hand in Bumblebee's general direction.

Bee, who had somewhat calmed down, lifted his battle mask slightly and frowned at Madeline's sister. _"Thanks,"_

"Shut up."

With the battle mask completely up now, he looked down at Madeline and made a slicing motion with his hand near his neck. _"Access denied."_

Madeline watched as the angry vibe radiating off of Aira almost instantly turned to a regretful one once she understood what Bumblebee meant. "What? No, please! I take it back!"

Madeline laughed. "It's fine. I'll take you." She stepped off the step ladder and moved it back to its place, Bumblebee promptly transforming back into the Camaro. "Why did you need me to take you?" Madeline asked as she got into the driver's seat, watching as Aira approached the car.

"How would you react if your friend rolled up in a Camaro?"

"You're using Bee, then?"

When Aira reached out for the door handle and attempt to open it, Bee locked his doors. " _That's cruel."_

"This robot of yours is about as mature as a thirteen year old."

"I could say the same about you, Aira."

"Bitch."

"Jerk."

* * *

July 8, 2018

"Hello? Who is this?"

 _"It's me again."_

"Look, pal. I don't want any of your crap-"

 _"Listen to me, Madeline-"_

"You know what? No. You warn me about this thing, and nothing has happened. If this is a prank-"

 _"This isn't a prank. Far from it. Millions are in danger."_

"Yeah yeah, I get it. I'm the savior and all that. What am I even supposed to do?"

 _"Do you still have the number?"_

"Yeah, the stupid thing got me attack by a freaking police car."

 _"You were attacked?"_

"Yes. I was. And I don't want get attacked again. And really, I don't know if this whole thing is real or not, but I don't want to be apart of it."

 _"You chose to be apart of it as soon as you bought that Camaro."_

"...I don't know what you're talking about."

 _"I'm not going to argue with you. But, because of your tone, I'm assuming you don't have the flash drive."_

"No. There's been absolutely no sign of it."

 _"It'll come to you. Sooner or later."_

"Whatever you say, Mr. Vague."

* * *

 _ **Well, last chapter before things go to Hell for Madeline.**_

 ** _Hurray?_**

 ** _Well, that's all for now. I hope you enjoyed!_**

 ** _\- Pastel_**


	6. Unwanted Chaos

_**Oh my goodness, this chapter is out so late I don't even have an excuse.**_

 **Arialys** ** _oh my god, you literally made my entire day, week even, when I read your review. Thank you, so so much! Really, your review is so supporting and comforting, just thank you very much. And thank you all for the reviews in general._**

 ** _Again, I'm really sorry for this seriously late update._**

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OCs_**

 ** _I hope you enjoy this chapter_**

* * *

 _ **Bond that can't Bee Broken**_

 _ **Chapter 6: Unwanted Chaos**_

July 7, 2018

Madeline couldn't figure out why the way Aira sat in the Camaro was so damn funny.

The seventeen year old girl was always weirdly aware of her surroundings, meaning she sat really stiff, and just looked all around uncomfortable. Whatever she was thinking, she was probably just making the entire situation worse for herself. Madeline had already apologized for laughing at her multiple times before, but they both knew she wasn't being sincere.

Ever since the whole Decepticon incident, Aira stopped spreading herself all over the passenger seat and sat as if she was wearing a tight tube dress. Madeline could understand why; she was pretty much the same after she first met Bumblebee. Really, it was just kind of odd to sit inside something that's _living_.

It was just really funny to look at.

Such as today, on the way to the grocery store, Aira was as rigid as ever, and only relaxed when they weren't within five feet of the car. Madeline dismissed it like she did all the other times, and went on with the task at hand. When they returned back to the car, Madeline swore Aira's back would be sore by the next day.

"You look uncomfortable." Madeline started casually.

"I'm perfectly fine." Aire replied simply, but a little too quickly for it to be convincing. Madeline was sure the whole reason Aira was acting like this, was because she'd think she'd touch something accidentally and cause awkward tension. Aira was an over-thinker, and she was definitely over-thinking this situation.

Aira's eyes found the radio, causing herself to squint at it in question. A random thought suddenly popped in her head.

 _"I can't stop this feeling  
Deep inside of me  
Girl you just don't realize  
What you do to me_ _."_

Aira looked over at her sister. "Do you think Bumblebee decides what songs to play, or just lets the radio do whatever?"

Madeline slowed the car and halted at an intersection. "Never really thought about it." Madeline answered absently, leaning her head against the window. Her eyes trailed a few pedestrians that crossed in front of them.

Aira made a _huh_ noise, then listened to the song playing just a bit more.

 _"I'm hooked on a feeling  
I'm high on believing  
_ _That you're in love with me."_

Aira leaned back ever so slightly, but her back still didn't touch the seat. "I think he chooses." She said after a moment, sounding only a little smug.

"What makes you say that?" Madeline replied, driving forward and turning left.

"Haven't you noticed what songs have been playing lately? Older songs."

"I suppose."

"Like, older songs that seem to have some sort of innocent love genre. Know what I'm sayin'?" Aira waved her hands as she tried to explain.

Unfortunately, anything Aira was trying to get across completely flew over Madeline's head, and by the time she slowed the car down at another intersection, Madeline had confusion written all over her face. "Uh-huh."

Aira's eyebrows raised. "Who are you, Dad?" A snicker followed suit. Both girls were suddenly reminded of how their Father always replied whenever they started ranting about things completely irrelevant to him.

"Are you implying I don't understand anything?" Madeline asked without looking at Aira, tugging at a few loose hair strands that refused to be pulled back into a ponytail.

"Bitch, I might be."

"We've got a jokester over here." Madeline said, voice almost completely monotone.

"Nobody says jokester. That's not even a word."

"Ask Siri."

"Siri doesn't know shit."

"That's not nice." Madeline pulled forward.

"I once asked her for directions three times and she didn't understand me so I called her a dumbass-" There was a pause. " _Madeline_!"

Aira's sudden scream caused Madeline to swerve slightly in her lane and look to her left instinctively. They were approaching the middle of the intersection when Madeline realized a black van was rushing down a street to the left of them and seemed to be aiming to ram right into them.

The windows were heavily tinted, and Madeline thought there was a possibility nobody was even inside.

The van nearly connected with the Camaro and would've killed Madeline if Bee hadn't taken control and manueved in a way that Madeline could have never accomplished, to narrowly get out of the van's way. However, he wasn't quick enough, and the van smashed into the end of the yellow car. The sound of metal clashing with metal filled the sisters' ears, and short screams erupted from them before the car resumed stillness after taking the impact from the van.

A car slammed on the brakes before hitting the van or the Camaro, causing the car behind it to ram right into the back of it. The sound of squealing tires against the asphalt was apparent. And without hesitance, the black van continued down the opposite street with the same speed as when it hit Bumblebee.

Madeline's hands were nowhere near the wheel when her brain suddenly caught up to real time, and realized she had started hyperventilating. And when she turned her head, she saw Aira was close to crying, but her wide eyes and slightly agape mouth told Madeline she hadn't quiet taken in what just happened. The intersection was filled with people yelling and most were running over to check on those who had it the worst.

They pulled away before anyone could come up to them, and it was easy to say, Bumblebee drove the rest of the way home.

As soon as the car parked itself in the barn, Madeline and Aira exited the car and hugged each other, promptly murmuring consoling words to calm each other down.

Before that, not once had either been in a car crash.

Madeline then turned to Bumblebee, who had already transformed and was observing whatever damage was made with an either bored or unimpressed look. However, Madeline completely disregarded his expression and felt all sorts of guilt.

Bumblebee looked up, but it wasn't until Madeline started spilling out fast-spoken words.

"Bumblebee, I'm so, so sorry." She practically sobbed out. "I should have been paying attention and I wasn't. I was off in La-La-Land, I know. And I could have injured all of us, _especially_ you. I've never been in a situation like this before, and it's just- oh god, it's all my fault I'm so sorry." Tears that were held back from before were beginning to fall down Madeline's face.

At that point, Bumblebee didn't really what to do. He felt sort of awkward in this position; he hadn't experienced sadness much, especially not crying. He knew comfort was the best option in this situation, but he decided he should probably wait for her to be done. Some of the words Madeline spoke were almost completely unintelligible, but he seemed to get the idea she'd cared deeply about his well-being. Though, he couldn't really see how this accident was her fault. She wasn't the one to deliberately speed toward and aim to hit another vehicle. Really, most of the time her hands aren't even actually on the wheel. Well, that goes to show trust, Bumblebee supposed.

Aira's clutch on her sister tightened, and she looked at the ground, ashamed. "And I just made it worse by trying to be cocky and I was distracting her by asking stupid questions and telling a dumbass story." She acted like she was admitting to a crime. "And I usually don't do that because my sister's car usually isn't alive." She paused. "Shit- you know what I mean." She seemed to be irritated at her own sentence. She looked up. "We're so sorry, Bumblebee."

Bumblebee's expression was apprehensive. Something told him the girls expected him to be angry, but really, he was far from it. After replaying the whole incident in his head at least three times, he didn't even know what he'd be mad about. And even if he was mad, he certainly wouldn't be mad at them. In the end, he was just sort of annoyed. Besides, the damage done was nothing compared to injuries he's received before.

Hell, a while back he lost his legs because of an explosion.

That particular information will be brought up _much_ later.

Bumblebee was sort of staring off in space, trying to figure out how to handle two girls that were having a breakdown when he realized Madeline was speaking again.

"-just you could have been so hurt, I've never felt so horrible in my life. I know I'm sounding cliche; I'm such a terrible person I just-"

The sudden gesture that Bumblebee made clearly said: _woah woah, stop right there_ , and it startled Madeline. _"Madeline. / You're far from / a terrible person."_ Even through the radio, Madeline could tell he was saying it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Madeline made a face as if she was about to protest, but Bumblebee shook his head. Madeline sighed. "Don't try and avoid that fact I wasn't paying attention to-"

 _"Don't try and / avoid the fact / you're a great person."_ Bumblebee quickly cut her off. He guessed this could be a way of comfort, since he knew for a fact that he wasn't a pro at it. Humans and Transformers had completely different definitions of comfort, but out of all the times he's seen humans console one another, Bumblebee really didn't mind adopting the human ways of it.

Aira was the first to laugh, whether it was a pity laugh or genuine, and Madeline just looked at the ceiling. "Bee, you have a bad habit of making serious situations the complete opposite." She scolded half-heartedly, wiping away a stray tear.

 _"And?"_

* * *

July 10, 2018

"Snails can sleep for three years."

"I suddenly wish I was a snail."

"Elephants are the only animal that can't jump."

"Are you telling me that elephants can't, but slugs can?"

"Are slugs animals?"

"Anything that isn't human are animals, right?"

"Technically we're animals too, Maddie."

"Moving on."

"A rhino's horn is made of hair."

"Objection."

"You can't disagree with the facts."

 _"I've never been more confused."_

Aira looked up from her phone and Madeline pulled her eyes away from Aira and towards Bumblebee. The Autobot sat off to the side with a puzzled expression. He was pretty much silent the entire time the girls were in the barn, probably because whatever they were conversing about was either irrelevant to him or just wasn't directed at him. Just listening to their conversation, Bumblebee felt that animals were just another complicated life form.

If you asked them, they would have no idea how they got on the topic 'animal facts' in the first place.

Aira snickered. "Don't worry about it, Amigo. Teaching you about animals already sounds difficult on so many levels."

Bumblebee's optics fixated on Aira. _Amigo_. He didn't know if that was an insult, compliment or a nickname, like _Bee_. Since the accident, she had started calling him that, and used it as if it was a casual name. She didn't say it a lot, but she said it enough for Bumblebee to assume it had meaning. He could probably easily figure out what it meant, but he didn't know if wanted to know the meaning or not. It could mean anything. Madeline wasn't getting on her case about it, so that was pretty much a clear indication it wasn't an insult.

Humans are complicated.

Or maybe he was making it seem complicated.

Madeline leaned back on her palms. "How many animals do you think are on Earth?"

Aira typed something into her phone. "No one knows, but scientists think there are 8.7 million species; 1-2 million being animals."

Madeline's eyes gradually widened. "What the hell are the others, then?"

Aira's face turned blank. "Uh, I don't know."

Either they were both completely unable to remember the other species, or they were just not educated. Madeline and Aira couldn't come up with the answer. Bee almost laughed despite the fact they were getting more and more flustered by the second.

"This should not be this hard." Aira mumbled, then almost jumped out of her skin when Madeline made a loud clap with her hands.

"Oh, I got it! I'm so fucking stupid, there are different species of plants and bacteria and all that stuff."

 _"Oh shit."_

Bumblebee swore they laughed for at least ten minutes after Aira understood.

"Okay, but jumping slugs-" Aira cut herself off, but Madeline was already laughing so hard to the point no one could hear it. Aira's head was turned towards the barn doors when she stood up, eyebrows furrowed as she tried to hear what was going on outside. "Maddie, hey, do you hear that?" Aira already looking out the door when Madeline stood up, successfully curbing her laughter.

She jogged over and looked over top of Aira's head to see what had captured her attention in the first place. Black vehicles were driving well above the speed limit and causing large dust clouds, and they seemed to be heading towards their house. There were a variety of cars, but one in particular caused a shiver to run down both of the girls' spines.

"Tell me that black van doesn't look familiar to you." Madeline said quietly, and Aira instantly jerked back away from the doors.

"Maddie, I have a bad feeling about this." Madeline could already tell Aira's hands were shaking.

Madeline closed the door and approached Bumblebee. He was already standing, and had the same expression as when Madeline mentioned the number she was supposed to call. "Bumblebee, you need to hide, _right now_."

"Where in the hell is he going to hide?" Aira practically shouted, her outburst most likely coming from fear.

The barn was large, and had a square pit towards the back. Madeline raced towards it and pointed down. "Get in here. Aira, grab boards and help me cover it once he's inside."

Aira complied, the two racing around to gather the boards and place them on top once Bumblebee was as comfortable inside the pit as he could get. As soon as they were finished, Aira felt extremely doubtful. "Think it'll work?"

Madeline shrugged. "It's the thought that counts." She turned towards the door, but stopped. "No matter what happens, don't reveal yourself." The only response she got was the quietest whirring noise. With that, Aira and Madeline exited the building.

They were quicker than they thought, because when they walked out to the front of their house, the cars were just then pulling up. The cars parked carelessly on the property, even going as far as pulling into the cut grass and swerving around Madeline and Aira, who stood in the center of it all. One car stopped directly in front of them, and the man who got out from the passenger side did nothing but practically scream bad news. A few others exited the cars, and their guns caused Aira to step closer and slightly behind her older sister.

"Maddie," Aira whispered, eyes wide as she observed every man that just stared back with a blank expression.

"It's okay." Madeline replied just as quietly, and reached back to grab Aira's trembling hand. She gladly held on tight.

When the man who appeared to be in charge approached the girls, both of them stepped back unconsciously. "Madeline Taylor?" He asked, then waited for an indication. Aira's side glance was all he needed. "My name is James Savoy, and I'm a federal agent." He spoke as if they were supposed to know who he was. Honestly, Madeline didn't give a shit. "My men and I are trying to track down a runaway car." His voice was unrealistically calm.

 _Okay, calm down_. At least Madeline's assumption was correct, and did the right thing with hiding Bumblebee. Now, she just didn't know how to respond without giving anything away. Really, what confused Madeline was how they managed to find her in the first place. She couldn't be surprised though, the government had their ways. Maybe it was just best to play dumb.

"Runaway?" Madeline repeated, eyebrow cocked. The man just replied with a curt nod. Madeline just squinted and gave the impression she thought that this man was out of his mind. Internally, Madeline felt her heart break. They really had gotten to Bumblebee; she was very thankful he managed to escape.

"Nice place." James said finally after Madeline's silence.

Madeline didn't even bother thanking him. "What runaway car?"

"To be specific, a 2014 Chevrolet Camaro."

Madeline shrugged and shook her head. "I don't know why you're here then, I've never owned one." She replied honestly.

"You've never owned a 2014 Camaro, but you've owned a 1977." James said, sounding almost proud for knowing that specific information. Madeline's breath hitched. "Now, I'm not going to make this difficult. We know how Transformers work. I also have a photograph of a speeding Camaro with no driver heading towards this city." James said, and if he were any less formal, he would probably be smiling as Madeline's face fell. "I also have records of you purchasing said car. Am I wrong?" Madeline didn't miss that small hint of smugness.

 _Bastard_. By the time Savoy ended his spiel, Madeline was fuming, and her expression showed it. "The only thing that's wrong is you being on our property." She started, and felt Aira squeeze her hand. Perhaps she was getting a little too confident. "I don't know what car you're talking about."

At this point, Savoy had had enough of Madeline act and was becoming irritated himself. And after Madeline stopped talking, he leaned closer. "The kind of car that costs American lives." He ground out with a glare. Madeline just glared right back. He leaned backwards and looked over at a man who had been standing silently next to him the entire time. "Search the property."

Madeline was instantly taken aback. "Search the property?" She repeated loudly. "You don't have a warrant!" She snapped. Her grip on Aira's hand was becoming painfully tight, but Aira was holding just as tight, purely out of anxiety. Aira watched as more men start exiting cars.

Savoy turned and pointed at himself. "My face, is my warrant." With that, he turned again and walked towards another man.

 _The audacity-_ Madeline watched with wide eyes as men ruthlessly wrenched the front door open and filed into the house with guns raised. She wanted to move, but her feet felt rooted to the ground. She was very close to yelling, _"Stop!"_ , when men invaded the barn. Keeping self control was really hard. And the fact Aira was having a panic attack did not help the situation.

"Madeline, what's going to happen? Oh, god. We're going to get arrested-" Despite her distressed state, Aira's voice was admirably quiet.

Madeline grabbed her sister's hands in hers and attempted to calm her down. "Shh, shh. It's okay. We'll get out of this. I promise." It worked for only a moment, because a man came jogging out from behind the house.

"Sir, we have a missile in the trash behind the house."

Madeline's eyes instantly widened. How in the hell did a missile end up in the trash? She's never even seen one around the house! "Missile?" She repeated quietly, feeling Aira tense up beside her.

"Maddie-" Aira started, but Madeline whipped around towards Savoy.

She threw her hands in the air. "Alright, okay. I bought the 1977 Camaro. I brought it home and used it how anybody would use a car. I came back from the grocery store yesterday, and left it in the barn last night. This morning, it was gone. When? Where? I don't know, that's as much as I know about him." Madeline was practically shouting by the end of her rant, and was pretty much out of breath. She took a few steps away from Aira and looked away, arms crossed against her chest.

Aira watched Savoy carefully as his expression hardened, pressing two fingers against his ear where his bluetooth was. _Fuck_.

Savoy's hand dropped and he immediately made his way over to Madeline's angered figure. "Miss Taylor."

She whipped around. _"What?"_ She hissed.

"Excuse me," he began with the same calm voice as before. "You just said _him_." Madeline's face paled. "Take 'em down."

Madeline turned around just to see a man roughly grab Aira, who instantly cursed and yelled at him. "Ow! Let me go!" She demanded, twisting, struggling and restraining. Unfortunately for him, she was putting up a good fight.

Madeline's head was reeling. "She doesn't know about the car, I do! Let her go!" She pleaded, moving Aira's way.

Savoy blocked her path. "What kind of person betrays her flesh and blood for alien metal?" He hissed, causing Madeline to look offended. "Get her out of my sight."

Before she knew it, she was also grabbed by an armed man. Madeline copied Aira's course of action, and struggled and pulled against the man's attempts to pull her to a van. "Let her go! She doesn't know!" Madeline was basically sobbing at this point.

"Alright, load up!"

Aira's anxiety had almost completely dissolved and reformed into pure anger and revolt. _Fuck all of these people._ "My god, you're manhandling a woman!" Aira exclaimed, using her free hand to scratch at the man's face, who remained calm and carried on, despite the fact they were still quite a ways from the van. "I will kick your ass, get off of me!" Madeline was struggling so much, the man who had ahold of her decided to throw her to the ground. "Maddie!" Aira cried out.

A command was ordered unbeknownst the the girls, and Aira was thrown to the ground only a moment afterwards. A gun was pulled on both of them.

"Now, you've got ten seconds." Savoy said darkly. "Where's the car?"

Madeline almost laughed. _All this for a fucking car that probably wanted nothing to do with this crazed planet_. Madeline turned her head despite her awkward position with all the weight on her back, but she almost exploded when she realized a gun was also pointed at Aira. "You're going to shoot my little sister?" Madeline ground out, a threat most likely behind the question.

"If I have to." Savoy replied, emotionless.

By this time, Aira was crying. "Please don't shoot me! _Please!"_

Madeline struggled again. "Fuck you! I've told you everything I know! He's gone, I swear!" Her eyes found a dragonfly-like drone that was focused on her face, and all she did was glare.

"Seven seconds."

Madeline completely ignored the warning. "Touch her and I _will_ kill you!"

This caused the gun to go off and a bullet to shoot right into the ground next to Madeline's head. "I'm losing patience. You've got two seconds." The aftermath of the gunshot was ringing in her ears, and all she did was curse. Savoy sighed, looked up, then nodded. "Shoot her."

Madeline's eyes were locked on Aira and held her breath, just waiting for the trigger to be pulled. But, the gun never went off. Instead, the barn that had been sitting in the background suddenly exploded and sent broken, wooden boards in every direction. The explosion was followed by the sound of weird gun going off with a side of whirring noises, and every once in a while, someone around her would get blown off their feet.

As soon as the weight off her back lifted, Madeline rolled over, snatched the drone, and stood up. When she ran over to Aira, she made only brief eye contact with Bumblebee, before the girls whipped around and ran out towards the field.

Madeline was sure neither had run as fast as this ever in their life.

"Maddie." Aira said breathlessly. "I was the one who put the missile in the trash. That one time when you were fixing Bee's radio, there was a missile somewhere you forgot and you didn't get it out. So I did, and I didn't know where to put it. I'm sorry." All of this was said in between breaths.

Madeline didn't have time to be angry, and just silently accepted her apology. When they had a small sliver of hope, it was kicked away because another explosion, but louder, went off behind them, causing them to duck while running. Madeline took a quick moment to look behind her, and saw their house up in flames. _Oh shit._

A white and purple car then pulled up, and the man inside opened the passenger door. "Come on! Hurry up, get in the car!" He called.

"Maddie, get in the car."

Madeline climbed into the passenger seat and Aira sat in the middle seat in the back. The man drove off as soon as they sat down. He kept glancing in his rear view mirror and was gripping the steering wheel so tight to the point he was white-knuckling. "What's happening, baby? Who are they?"

Madeline didn't miss that. Her head turned and did nothing but shoot a glare at the stranger. For some reason, he looked familiar.

"The car, they want the car." Aira said, her voice fearful.

"Who are they? Who are you? And who are you calling _baby_?" Madeline hissed. The man stayed silent, but something told Madeline he was pretending to be extra-focused since he was scared to answer the question. "I _know_ you heard me."

"I'm her boyfriend."

"He's my boyfriend."

Madeline's grip tightened on the grab handle above her head. "You aren't her boyfriend!"

Aira seemed to be mildly irritated. "His name is Parker and he drives, Madeline." She said for him, but that didn't make Madeline feel any better. Though, the name set her off.

Parker used to go to the same school as they did. He was always one grade above Madeline and two above Aira. Madeline had spoken to him a few times, but not once had she ever seen Aira and Parker interact. They didn't even make eye contact in the hallways.

When Madeline looked back at Parker, she could tell he was sitting on pins and needles and was pretty much terrified to look at Madeline. _"Parker?"_ She yelled accusingly.

It was funny, because all the while they were having this stupid conversation, the government was chasing and practically hunting them down. Parker made a sharp turn and drove down a narrow road that was surrounded by corn stalks. The trio automatically noticed two cars driving up alongside them, but were almost completely hidden by the corn. Not until one decided to swerve and hit the side of Parker's car, but not hard enough to stop them from driving down the dirt road.

They arrived in a small town, and Parker quickly turned into a backyard, driving through a fence and into another backyard. There was a tree that Parker did two donuts around, and drove through another fence to escape. The one car that was following close behind them ran right into the tree because of the dust clouds.

Soon enough, they arrived on a short highway.

"Madeline, this is not how I wanted you to find out, okay?" He spoke quickly and looked over at Madeline's angered figure for a brief second. He gestured to himself. "I'm Parker and I am completely-"

Madeline cut him off, grabbed his waving hand and placed it back on the wheel none-too-gently. "And I am not talking to you, _drive the car!"_

Parker made another sharp turn right in front of a truck, causing the truck to slam on the brakes, but its back end to drift towards its front. Multiple cars crashing followed suit. At least ten bullets penetrated the fleeing car, but none did anything to stop them, again.

Parker's adrenaline was off the charts, and it was annoying the hell out of Madeline. "Man, I don't know how I'm driving this good." He said excitedly. "It's like today I've just got onto a whole other level."

Madeline felt like slapping herself. "Focus, stop talking!"

Another turn later, Parker drives down a narrow road and due to quick thinking, he decides to drive through a store that had the front wall being completely made of glass. The appeared from out of the back of the building and arrived in an alleyway. Aira and Madeline were looking out their windows and were horrified to see Bumblebee being chased on the rooftops by none other than another Transformer. They were most likely sharing the same thought.

The black vehicles were nowhere to be seen, until about thirty seconds later they came rushing around a corner. Aira leaned forward in her seat. "Lose them at the factory, Parker!"

A few turns later, Parker made a beeline for the ramp that led upwards into the abandoned factory. "We're losing them on the fifth floor." Parker said firmly.

That didn't sound very good on Madeline's part.

"Do that thing, Parker." Aira said quickly.

"You know it."

Madeline looked at Aira then Parker and back again. "Wait, what thing?"

Parker glanced at Madeline. "What I'm about to do...is a bit scary." As if on cue, gunshots rang out and started pelting against the car's exterior. "Aira, grab my stick!"

"What?" Madeline shouted, her tone sounded completely disgusted.

Aira leaned forward and out of her seat and grabbed the stick shift with one hand, the other grabbing onto Parker's seat for stability. "Ready Aira? Pull!" She pulled back as quick as she could, and next thing Madeline knew, she was in the air and heading towards the ground at an alarming rate.

The car landed roughly on a ramp, while the black vehicles that followed promptly crashed on the scaffolding around them. "Aira, you are in so much trouble!" Madeline shouted over the sound of crashing cars.

A little ways from where they dropped, Parker stopped the car. "Damnit, the rim's cracked."

Through the windshield, the biggest wave of relief Madeline has ever felt washed over her when the yellow Camaro drifted around the corner and skidded to a stop. "Bee!" Aira and Madeline said in unison.

"Come on, quick!" The three got out of the car before Aira took only a moment to stop and look at the roof of a building not too far from where they were.

"Maddie!" She shouted, then pointed.

The Transformer that had been chasing Bumblebee stood there with a stiff stance. The robot then fumbled with something before chucking it to where they were.

"Run!"

Madeline realized she had lied to herself when she thought Aira and she hadn't run that fast before, but this took the cake. The object the Transformer threw ended up being a bomb, and the effect was quickly surrounding them. They could feel the heat touching their backs at painful temperatures, and it felt like forever before they got away. The sound the bomb was making was very close to deafening, and debris flew every which way.

Everyone immediately scrambled into the Camaro, and Bee drove off at a high speed.

* * *

About almost two hours later of pure driving, the car jerked to a stop, purposely to wake those that were inside. Madeline's head raised quickly on impulse, expecting danger, but all she saw was an abandoned gas station. She also noticed the sun was slowly going down.

Aira, Madeline and Parker got out of the car and looked around. Fantastic. They all turned around at the sound of Bumblebee transforming, and Parker stumbled backwards when Bee's fist connected with the ground. Madeline grimaced; he looked a little beaten up.

 _"Stay here until I / know we weren't / followed."_ He said simply, giving Madeline a short, pained look before returning to his alt. mode, backing up, and driving away.

Madeline crossed her arms and watched the car's figure gradually get smaller, before he disappeared from sight. At this point, Madeline didn't know how to feel about their whole situation. All she knew, was that Bumblebee was going through Hell because of _her,_ and it fucking hurt.

Parker, however, showed clearly that he was bothered. "So, that's the plan now?" He started, shifting his weight to one side and placing his hands on his hips. "We're taking orders from a _car_?"

"Do you have a better idea, _Parker_?" Madeline hissed without looking back at him, letting her arms fall to her sides. Parker remained quiet after that. When Madeline turned to look at them, her eyes narrowed at the sight of Parker's arm around Aira. "Hey, no. Keep your hands off her, alright? No." Madeline moved towards them and shoved them apart, but didn't have to put much effort into it because Parker detached himself from Aira before Madeline could even touch them. She proceeded to walk through them and headed towards the building.

Parker scoffed. "What's her problem?" He asked quietly.

Aira crossed her arms. "You."

Only a moment later the couple followed Madeline's path and entered the building. There wasn't much to do in an old gas station, so the three fumbled with things as an attempt to keep themselves entertained. Madeline gave up about ten minutes into solving a slightly broken rubik's cube, and decided to just glare at Parker instead.

Watching him become more and more uncomfortable under her threatening stare was funny enough.

About another ten minutes later, Aira looked up from the Christmas lights she was playing with and noticed the tension. Parker took refuge behind the counter and Madeline sat about ten feet from him in a chair, looking about as frustrated as ever.

Aira lifted herself up onto the counter, Christmas lights still in her grasp. "Well, on the brightside, you guys met." She started quietly.

Madeline's head almost robotically turned towards her little sister. She pointed at Parker. "Where's he from?" The question itself was a little dumb since Madeline knew Parker, but he only went to the same school as they did for a year. But honestly, his presence was just irritating.

Aira raised a brow. Apparently she thought the same thing as Madeline. "I told you." She sounded irked. "He's a driver from Texas."

"He drives." Madeline stated uninterestedly. "What do you mean _drives_? Like for a living?"

"Yeah." Aira replied quietly, looking back down at the lights, resuming the action of plugging and unplugging them.

"Look, I race rally cars." Parker finally spoke, resting his elbows on the counter and clasping his hands. "One driver, and one navigator: her." He gestured over at Aira, who didn't look up. "And just so you know, my life savings, went into that car back there." His last sentenced sounded cautious.

Madeline narrowed her eyes. Was he blaming her for what happened to his stupid car? "This is not happening."

"Oh, it definitely is."

Madeline stood up at that, the chair squeaking against the hard floor from behind pushed back. She approached the counter stiffly, causing Parker to straighten and back away. "How old are you?"

"Twenty." He answered quickly.

"She's a seventeen year old girl." She pointed at Aira.

This time, she did look up. "I'll be eighteen soon enough."

Madeline ignored her. "I should just call the cops on you because this is illegal; she's a minor!"

"Madeline!"

"We're protected by the Romeo and Juliet laws." Parker elaborated. Madeline only heard about the law and knew very little about it.

"We dated for a little while. I was a sophomore, he was a senior. It's fine." Aira argued, unplugging and plugging the Christmas lights more roughly than before.

"No, it's not fine."

"We have a preexisting juvenile foundational relationship." Parker spilled out, and Madeline felt like slapping him. "Statute 22.011."

"Huh. Romeo and Juliet. Do you know how they ended up?" Madeline asked with narrowed eyes.

Aira smiled slightly. "In love."

"Dead." Madeline replied darkly. "Do your parents know about this?"

Parker leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "I never asked."

Madeline turned to Aira before she blew a gasket. "I trusted you, Aira."

Aira frowned. "To do what? To never have fun?"

Madeline balled her hands into fists before she pointed at herself. "I am your older sister and ever since dad left to Italy, I have been busting my ass trying to take care of you. Who's the one cleaning up after you, buying groceries and doing chores around the house?"

Aira leaned forward and replied almost instantly. "Is that what you were doing when you brought home that car? Taking care of me? As soon as you knew about it, all you had to do was report it. Now we're stuck here at this trashy gas station." Aira hopped down from the counter and headed towards the door. "Thank you, you've taken real good care of me." With that, she exited the building.

Madeline crossed her arms and sighed, before turning around to give one last glare to Parker for good measure, who looked away quickly.

* * *

It was around ten o'clock at night when Aira fell asleep, but both Madeline and Parker just felt restless. Parker occupied himself by reading old newspapers and picking up where Madeline left off on the rubik's cube. At one point, a section of the rubik's cube wouldn't turn, and Parker tossed it to the ground.

Madeline spent her time sitting just outside the building, leaning against the chipping wall. The night was peaceful, but still pretty humid in the desert. A slight breeze helped with that predicament, but Madeline was sure she'd overheat if she put on a sweatshirt.

Despite the ever-growing ache that was developing in her spine, Madeline remained in that spot, occupied by her thoughts.

Her thoughts were the opposite of organized, and one thing led to another. After sort of analyzing what had happened, Madeline was pretty much paranoid about everything. In addition, she was worried about everyone involved. And now, she didn't know how they'd progress in this situation. Madeline still had her wallet, surprisingly, but only a small amount of money, and she figured that her card was useless now.

Madeline hugged her knees to her chest.

Madeline still couldn't even register the fact she was threatened with a gun, and that Aira was pretty much a second away from getting shot in the head if Bumblebee hadn't revealed himself.

Oh _, Bumblebee._

Madeline felt all the gratitude in the world towards him. He deliberately went against her order to save _their_ lives, while endangering _his._ The mere thought of Bumblebee dying caused Madeline to tear up, so she shoved those thoughts away quickly. Now that Madeline thought about it, she didn't feel one single negative emotion towards Bee. Hell, she might as well have loved him.

In a platonic way, of course.

Exactly... _platonic._

Madeline squinted at her thoughts. _What the hell._

Footsteps caused Madeline to look up and see Parker leaning against the doorframe, looking grim. "What are you doing out here?" He asked quietly.

"Pondering." Madeline replied simply, watching a firefly float past. Parker made a _huh_ noise. "They were going to kill her." Madeline said after a moment, expression blank.

"They're probably still trying to."

Madeline moved to stand up. "Someone somewhere gave that order. I bet I can find some fingerprints."

Before she managed to walk inside, Parker used his arm to block her way. "Wait until tomorrow." He said calmly.

Madeline frowned. "Why?"

"It's pretty much eleven o'clock at night. Give yourself a break."

"...okay."

* * *

July 11, 2018

Just as Madeline said the other night, she began working on the little drone as soon as she woke up.

At first she was actually confused on where she was when she opened her eyes, but everything from yesterday came flooding back and hit her like a semi-truck.

Taking apart the drone was easy enough for Madeline, and fortunately for her, a small and old computer had the perfect outlets to let Madeline see what the drone had recorded in the past.

This part took her a moment, because the tech the drone was built with was a little more complicated than Madeline had worked with before, but it wasn't long until she figured it out. However, during the process, Aira managed to drag Madeline outside to play with an old frisbee Aira and Parker had found whilst scavenging the gas station.

Madeline claimed she'd only throw it once, but ended up throwing it at least over ten times.

When she returned, she was finally able to connect the computer and the drone, and a series of clips appeared on the screen. She watched with narrowed eyes, and realized a whole team of people were bringing down all sorts of Transformers. Autobots included. She could tell, because one Autobot in particular was pleading for the humans to stop, and claimed to be on their side.

In one of the clips, the drone turned towards a large truck, and Madeline instantly knew who the people were then.

KSI.

When Madeline had all the information she believed she needed, she carefully put the drone back together and placed it into a bin next to the table she was working on.

She'd tell Aira and Parker later.

Later that day, the trio had once again lost interest in whatever they thought would entertain them, and were all lounging on the once couch inside the building.

Aira had turned on the tv and switched through stations until she stopped on a news station.

All three instantly saw their faces.

The pictures were blurry, as if they were quickly turning around or running, but Madeline, Aira and Parker could definitely tell it was their faces.

The man speaking was explaining why and how they were on the screen, but Madeline couldn't hear him.

"I feel like _harboring a Transformer_ is the weirdest thing to have on a criminal record." Parker said quietly after a moment of silence.

"Would you rather have murder on you record?" Madeline replied, sounding weirdly harsh for a reason she couldn't come up with.

"I'll take the Transformer, thanks."

Aira snickered. "We're wanted because of Bumblebee. Now _that's_ the tea, sis."

"Don't ever say that again."

* * *

July 12, 2018

The next day, everyone was beyond restless.

They've been there for two days, with no sign of the government or Bumblebee.

They have also almost completely raided the entire gas station, and even found small crates to pile the stuff they thought would be useful into them.

By the time they were done "packing", the trio resumed back to the frisbee throwing. It seemed like the only thing that could keep them even remotely occupied.

Though, sometimes Madeline made no effort to catch a frisbee that sailed over her head, which resulted in groaning from her younger sister.

 _"You could at least try to catch the thing."_

 _"Don't sass me Smalls."_

 _"Screw you."_

It was around noon when they heard the noise of a truck coming down the dirt road.

"Maddie?" Aira asked warily, slowly walking closer to her sister.

From their spot, they could see the truck, until it came close enough that it was hidden by the building. The three ran to the side of the building that was out of sight for the truck, waiting anxiously as the truck pulled into the gas station and held still.

Madeline peered around the corner, and her breath hitched. _Wait, I've seen this truck before._ A flashback of when she was in the parking lot when the police car first saw her. She looked just a bit closer.

No driver.

Madeline moved out from behind the building, which caused Aira to protest in a "whisper scream" and for Parker to call her an idiot. Madeline would deal with it later.

She approached the truck carefully, almost waiting for someone to pop out and shoot her. But it didn't happen.

But what did happen, was the truck transformed.

It happened so suddenly, an accidental scream erupted from Madeline out of pure shock, and she stumbled backwards, landing on the ground after tripping on her feet.

She could almost hear Aira mutter, _"For fuck's sake, it's another one."_

Madeline looked up from her spot on the ground, squinting from the sun. This Transformer was much, _much_ taller than Bumblebee. It was almost a little intimidating. And seeing how it was only studying her, she assumed this Transformer was also an Autobot.

 _"I am Optimus Prime."_ The Autobot began, and Madeline was instantly surprised at the deep voice. And it was _his_ voice.

"...hello?" Madeline replied quietly, unsure how to talk to this robot. He was much more orderly, or business-like, if that made sense. She was sure if she told Optimus Prime a joke, he definitely wouldn't get it.

 _"Are you Madeline Taylor?"_ He went on.

Madeline merely nodded. At this point, Aira and Parker had emerged from their hiding spot and were coming closer to Madeline.

 _"We must hurry. I need to take you to the others."_ With that, he transformed back into the old, beaten up truck.

Madeline eyes widened. _Others?_ But without anymore hesitation, she stood and pointed to the gas station.

"Grab the crates."

A few minutes later, they were on the road. At last, they were finally out of the old gas station.

Another thing that caused her to be confused, was how he found out where they were. Perhaps Bumblebee gave him their location.

After only several minutes of driving, a large, white semi-truck came driving by. Madeline felt like ducking, but what happened next made her mouth gap.

A bright bluish-green light was produced from the side of the truck, seeming to scan the white semi. The trio was watching in awe.

The truck then promptly made drastic changes to itself, changing its model completely and earning itself a new paint job. The truck was brand new. A perfect Western Star truck with a flashy aerodynamic design.

Parker was freaking about the situation, but Madeline wasn't listening. Aira was rolling her eyes.

And just a few moments after, Optimus Prime's booming voice rang out.

 _"Calling all Autobots. Calling all Autobots."_

The trio began to lean forward in their seats, looking through the windshield. Madeline would have been lying if she said she wasn't excited. There were _more_. What if they were like Bumblebee? Sweet and just delightful to be around in general?

Or would they be the complete opposite? Like...assholes?

Either way, Madeline was ecstatic that she was going to get to meet more Autobots. And hopefully, she'd be able to see Bumblebee again.

Someone else's voice caused Madeline to look out the driver's window, and what she saw made her face split in half with a grin.

 _"Oh yeah! Hell yeah! He's back, he's alive! Optimus is here!"_

* * *

 ** _The story itself is over seven thousand words, oh boy._**

 ** _I made sure to work hard on this chapter just to make up for my stupid absence._**

 ** _Again, sorry. I apologize for any mistakes._**

 ** _'til next time!_**

 ** _\- Pastel_**


	7. Travelers

_**Hey! I'm not dead!**_

 _ **School is legitimately taking over my life, and I don't know how to feel about it.**_

 _ **I'm also sorry about the fact my writing abilities have seem to have gone down hill, oof.**_

 _ **Oh, and the Autobots use human curse words, heh.**_

 _ **Well, here's the newest chapter of BTCBB! Enjoy!**_

 _ **-Pastel**_

* * *

 ** _Bond that can't Bee Broken_**

 ** _Chapter 7: Travelers_**

July 12, 2018

 _"Yeah! Mr. 'Leader of the Free Galaxy' is back. I knew you'd make it."_

The voice itself made Madeline's eyes widen. The trio all looked at each other; each person's expression ranging from confused to afraid. The voice was deep and rough, and had the accent of...something Madeline couldn't pinpoint.

All she knew was that it sounded intimidating.

After Optimus Prime had called out to the other Autobots, it wasn't long before he set his sights on a temporary destination, and more cars had come into Madeline's and the rest of the crew's line of sight. When they all drew near, Optimus had pulled over and stopped in large area of open ground.

One Autobot had even ran alongside of Optimus before he stopped, and that was when Madeline, Aira and Parker heard the daunting voice. When Optimus came to a full stop, they climbed hesitantly out of the truck and stepping into the open, but it was almost like a miracle when none of the stranger Autobots paid any attention to them. The quickly moved off to the side to avoid getting hit by Optimus when he transformed.

Before Madeline even had a chance to look at her surroundings, or anything else for that matter, another robot pulled up and in front of Optimus, and transformed before them.

 _"We heard your warning."_ A blue robot spoke up, his tone polite. _"We were waiting."_

Madeline squinted. Was that a Japanese accent? She looked closer, and saw that his build actually resembled a samurai's outfit. Well, this is different.

They huddled together, and watched with both terrified and curious eyes as the Autobots congregated in some sort of a half circle, and appeared to be unaware of Madeline, Parker and Aira's obvious presence.

And then suddenly, again, another Autobot appeared, coming out from somewhere up above, and landed on the ground quite ungracefully, throwing dirt and sand every which way.

 _"Hell yeah. Boom time. We've got the gang back together."_ The newest robot announced enthusiastically, joining the half circle.

Madeline nearly spoke up then. Gang? Where was Bumblebee? Madeline's eyebrows furrowed in a worried manner as she bit the inside of her lip. She turned in place, looking out across the desert. Aira and Parker seemed too frightened to do anything else but hug each other.

What looked like a 1967 Camaro, Madeline couldn't tell exactly from the distance, appeared on top of a small hill and stopped for a moment, as if observing the situation while deciding what to do next. Within the next moment, it drove down and disappeared from sight. It gave Madeline a sliver of hope, unless it was another Autobot she had yet to meet.

It took Madeline a moment of staring at the horizon and anticipating the bot's reappearance before she nearly imploded with delight. She was sure she at least jumped in place, because Aira gave her a weird look before she turned her head to see what made Madeline so happy.

The sister's faces almost split in two with wide grins when they saw Bumblebee walking up the hill and towards the group casually, almost as if he was strutting for a reason nobody would eventually figure out. Madeline did note that his build looked different than before, and figured he changed his model for more protection.

 _Smart_.

When Bumblebee saw Madeline and Aira, he gave them the tiniest of waves, but remained silent.

The new autobots kept talking.

 _"Humans have asked us to play by their rules."_ Optimus began. _"Well, the rules have just changed."_ His voice was dark, and Madeline was sure something was hidden behind his tone, like he was disappointed in humanity. It was as if he was planning something like revenge.

Madeline's curious expressions morphed to a mixture of blank and serious ones. Apparently Rebecca wasn't the only one who thought humans were complete trash.

Madeline paused. Rebecca.

 _"Human beings. Bunch of back-stabbin' weasels."_ One Autobot scoffed, and Madeline heard Parker groan quietly behind her. Madeline looked down at the ground. So, apparently it wasn't their first rodeo when it came to human trust issues.

 _"Hound. Find your inner compass."_ The blue robot started in a soothing voice. _"Loyalty is but a flower in the winds of fear and temptation."_ He said calmly, clutching his sword to his chest with a peaceful smile on his face.

Hound, Madeline guessed that was his name, just gave the other a weird and judgemental look. _"What the hell are you sayin'?"_

 _"It's a haiku."_ The Autobot replied as if Hound's question was the dumbest one he's ever heard, shooting back an equally unimpressed look.

Hound reached forward and grabbed the blue robot by his collarbone and pulled him forward, holding up a grenade. _"Cut the crap before I drop a grenade down your throat."_ He threatened.

Madeline heard Aira gasp behind her, and huddle close enough that she was practically smothering Madeline's backside.

In a heartbeat, said blue robot maneuvered out of his grip and whipped around with impressive speed for such a huge robot, and held the sword up to Hound's throat. _"Try it. You'll be dead."_ He challenged.

 _"Oh, pull it. Please pull it."_ Hound begged, making no effort to fight back.

 _"You know what? / It'll save us so much time._ " Bee spoke up then, sounding completely exasperated even through different radio stations. He waved his hand dismissively as he talked, and Madeline instantly looked up at him with wide eyes as soon as she registered his words. He just shrugged nonchalantly.

The green robot started pacing, and piped up with an irritated tone. _"Well, raise your hand if you're thoroughly disenchanted with our little Earth vacation."_ He growled out. Madeline was very close to raising her own hand for comedic purposes, but nearly jumped out of her own skin when the robot suddenly whipped around and slid into a defensive stance, aiming his gun directly at the trio. _"So, who's the stowaways?"_

Madeline stared directly into the barrel of the gun; it could blow them all to smithereens with one shot.

Parker, Aira and Madeline immediately huddled tighter together, if that was even physically possible. Madeline instinctively put her arm in front of Aira, and her other in front of her defensively. Movement from above caused Madeline's attention to be directed upwards, and she saw Bee pointing his own cannon-looking thing directly at the robot that was threatening them, with the expression that clearly said he wasn't fucking around.

Said robot looked between the humans and Bumblebee, as if he was debating whether to change his target to Bee instead of them. And as if Hound just realized humans present, he dramatically, and quite literally, rolled in and readied his machine gun. Bee, in response, just raised another gun as quickly as before.

Madeline sighed. Was she really going to die, just like that?

Before anything else happened, Optimus Prime spoke up. _"Stop, Hound. Both of you!"_ He sounded like an angry, tired dad. _"They risked their lives for Bumblebee's. We owe them."_

Despite Prime's claim, the other robots each gave their own reaction to his statement. Hound looked confused, the robot that threatened them looked at Optimus like he was stupid, and the Japanese robot just squinted.

Just from that, Madeline made the assumption Bumblebee was like the little brother of this group.

When Madeline looked up at Bumblebee, he looked as if he was very close to saying, _'Fuck y'all.'_

* * *

Night fell quicker than Madeline remembered, and she found herself on edge every time an Autobot casually walked past her, minding its own business. With the exception of Bumblebee, of course.

The green robot, she had yet to learn the his name, would look at Madeline with either an expression of curiousness or despise whenever she happened to stray too close, as if she was different from previous humans he's encountered in the past.

Either way, Madeline would turn on her heel and hastily walk the opposite direction without trying to be casual. She would always hear his tiny laugh as she did so.

A lot had happened that Madeline didn't have a chance to think about, and the fact she continued to refuse to think about it only made it worse. Really, all she wanted to do was sleep and talk to Bumblebee.

Speaking of which, Madeline hadn't had the chance to actually talk to Bumblebee. But now, he was sitting on the ground, back against a rock, occupying himself by doing something Madeline couldn't tell.

She took this opportunity and made her way over. His blank expression seemed to brighten as soon as he saw her, and his optics followed her until she sat on the ground next to him.

She looked up and adjusted her position to one that was most comfortable, grinning up at him. "Hey there,"

 _"Howdy-"_ Bee looked down at her like she was some exotic flower he's never seen.

Madeline chuckled, then hugged her knees to her chest. "I'm glad you're okay, Bee. I thought they got you." Madeline admitted, finally happy to get the one thing she wanted to say off her chest.

Really, Madeline hadn't and refused to stop worrying until she saw Bee for herself, and when her demand came true, she's felt happy ever since then.

 _"It's gonna take a lot to take me away from you,"_ Bee replied easily, and Madeline just grinned. The line itself was enough to make Madeline blush just in the slightest, but she couldn't help it.

Bee's response was quiet, but apparently Aira had heard it, because Madeline could see her smile from where she sat. "There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do." Aira continued on quietly, but loud enough just so Madeline could hear.

"I bless the rains down in Africa." Parker finished with a laugh, Aira joining in.

Madeline gestured over to the two and gave Bee a fake frowned. "Look what you started."

Bee just threw the hand that was farthest from Madeline in the air and shrugged.

Madeline's gaze left Bee's face and traveled further upwards, to a small ledge near his shoulder. She stood up, her movement immediately catching Bee's attention. Madeline looked around for a moment, then moved closer to the rocks and climbed her way up. Bee's eyes were trained on her form, tense and waiting to catch if she were to fall.

Yet, she never did, and sat herself down on the ledge, Indian style. "There we go. More convenient, eh?"

Bee just made a happy whirring noise.

After a moment of silence, Madeline squinted. "Hey, Bee. What're the other two Autobots' names?" She pointed to the green and blue robot.

Bee pointed at the blue robot. _"Prick."_ Then he pointed at the green one. _"Bitch."_

It was easy to say Madeline was shocked instantly, and surprised the other two Autobots hadn't heard Bee's blatant insults. "Bee!" Madeline hissed, leaning forward to poke his metal cheek.

 _"Yes?"_

"Don't be an asshole."

 _"Fine."_ He pointed again. _"Drift and / Cross/hairs."_

Madeline nodded slowly. "Interesting names."

As the night went on, it gradually began to grow colder and forced Madeline to leave her spot on the ledge next to Bee, which he happily helped her down from, and walk back over to Aira and Parker, who were sitting near the fire Parker had started, in search for warmth.

And that was when business suddenly started.

 _"So, there are no signs of others?"_ Optimus Prime asked, a hard look on his face.

 _"No. We are all that's left."_ Drift replied sadly, observing the sword he held in his hands.

 _"They're picking us off, one by one."_ Crosshairs continued, crossing his arms and shifting his weight to one side.

Hound rested his hands on his hips. _"We're the pathetic dirty foursome. And you make five."_ He made a gesture towards Optimus.

Parker dragged his hands across his face. "So that's our best case scenario? Autobot witness protection?"

"Hey, Speed Racer, you're welcome to leave any time." Madeline replied quickly.

"Well, for the record, Maddie. I'm not hiding out with you; I'm hiding out with these big guys." He gestured to the Autobots, and Crosshairs just made a skeptical expression. Madeline, on the other hand, just glared at Parker, and it wasn't long before he looked away awkwardly.

 _"Sensei,"_ Drift suddenly spoke up from his place on a flat rock, capturing Optimus' attention. _"With your fate unknown, Bumblebee has held temporary command. Despite his complete and total lack of anything resembling warrior discipline."_ Drift informed, sounding almost proud whilst waving his sword in Bumblebee's direction. Madeline's back was facing him, but she could almost see Drift's smirk.

Another thing, Madeline didn't know whether to be proud or confused on how Bumblebee was able to hold command; they were gone for like...three days!

 _"He's like a child."_ It was as if Drift was purposely saying this so Bee would be riled up. Madeline was sure Bee wasn't doing anything other than just sitting and minding his own business. If anything, he was observing Madeline.

Bee stood up then, causing Madeline, Aira and Parker to simultaneously look up and over at Drift, who just looked completely smug. It was almost comical.

Bumblebee stalked over to Drift's relaxed figure. _"This child is / about to kick your ass."_

Drift just continued to press. _"He brings us shame."_

Bee kicked his sword away, and Drift reacted by tackling Bumblebee. The sound of metal scraping against each other and hitting the ground, along with the sight of sparks flying everywhere, caused the trio to look on with what could be described as fright.

 _"Smart ass."_ Drift taunted, gaining the upper hand.

Hound, from the sidelines, just looked hyped. _"Cage fight."_

"What's the matter with them?" Aira asked quietly, shifting closer to Madeline. Madeline just shook her head.

The fight abruptly stopped when Drift managed to get Bee into a tight headlock, supported by his sword that was held close to his neck. _"Am I the lone sage who sees through this puppy-dog eyes act? It's beneath you."_ Drift said with a grin.

 _"Yes!"_ Crosshairs suddenly piped up, fist-pumping the air. Madeline squinted at him. _"I've been waiting for them to all dispatch each other so I can take charge without any trouble at all. Just me, reporting to me."_ Crosshairs flipped his gun with his hand then pointed at himself.

For some reason, Madeline assumed he'd be fun to tease.

"Sure looks like you've been missed." Madeline said to Optimus Prime, and he just spared her a disappointed look.

 _"Autobots,"_ He started seriously. _"Lockdown is hunting us, and humans are helping-"_

Madeline groaned. What the hell had she gotten herself into? "Just great. We've got some sort of enemy robot on our asses with who knows how many humans, and Megatron's bomb on our plate. This is fantastic."

 _"Excuse me?"_

 _"What?"_

 _"Repeat what you just said."_

 _"Run that shit by me again."_

 _"I'm sorry?"_

Madeline froze. All eyes were on her, and it was the worst feeling ever to be scrutinized by giant robots with large weaponry. "You all...didn't know?"

 _"What is this bomb you speak of?"_ Drift asked, stepping away from Bumblebee and looking as tense as the rest of the Autobots.

"Yeah, Madeline. What bomb?" Aira said lowly.

Madeline took a moment to look over at Aira and Parker; Aira looked angry and Parker looked just about frightened as she did. "Um...I received this slip of paper with seven numbers on it. I was ordered to keep track of it and to keep it hidden." She paused, then looked up at Bumblebee. "Bee, that police car, that's what he was asking about."

 _"Barricade?"_

"I suppose. After that, I got a call from an unknown number telling me about this weird drive. Apparently it was the only way to stop Megatron's bomb. But even so, I thought he died?"

 _"He did."_ Optimus Prime replied without a second thought, but Madeline couldn't help but feel doubtful.

"Are you sure?"

 _"Yes."_ His voice wasn't as calm as before, and Madeline had to refrain from flinching. Well, no more questioning him.

"Well, I don't know what to do now. I've heard nothing about it." Madeline admitted.

 _"Since you received the number, I'm guessing you're a big part of this whole situation."_ Hound spoked quietly, but Madeline nodded.

"I guess. I haven't found the drive, but since I'm here, I have a feeling I'll find it soon. But let's focus on one thing at a time." Madeline stood up and pushed the blanket off her shoulders, moving over to the crates. She pulled out the drone and observed it her hands. She looked up. "About the human problem. I don't know why, but I have an idea about who."

The group of Autobots looked at her curiously.

"Projector, anyone?"

Drift was the one who ended up projecting the footage from the drone, and as soon as it appeared on one of the giant walls of rock, everyone became entranced. The footage showed exactly what Madeline had seen before: people hunting down all kinds of Transformers. Madeline didn't feel like she needed to explain what was happening right away, Hound had already removed his hat to place it on his chest.

 _"Oh...that's Leadfoot. Savages."_

After a bit of silence while it was rolling, Madeline decided to start explaining. "After they rip them apart, and a truck comes to take them afterwards. KSI, Kinetic Solutions Incorporated. Defense, aerospace government contracts; they designed this drone."

Parker squinted at the footage, then raked his eyes over the solemn-looking robots, who all had their eyes glued to the footage. "So these government guys just hunt you down then pass you to KSI?"

They didn't answer, so Madeline nodded briefly at him. "The company's headquarters are in Chicago. That could be where they're taken."

 _"No way to get inside without a battle."_

"Unless you have human help." Madeline suggested, unplugging the drone and stepping away from Drift.

Aira frowned. "Really?"

"Aira, we're all targets. If we don't help, we may never get our life back."

 _"Autobots. I have sworn to never kill humans,"_

 _"Big mistake."_

A series of confused, irritated, disappointed and humorous expressions flashed across everyone's face.

 _"But whoever is behind this...he's going to die."_

* * *

July 13, 2018

The road trip to Chicago was anything but smooth.

There was constant bickering between Aira, Madeline and Parker over the smallest of things, such as Parker pushing on the back of the front seat where Madeline was sitting, or Aira claiming Madeline wasn't good at driving, or Parker stating that Aira was shit at cooking.

Really, the car ride was draining everyone and caused the trio to speak their minds without a filter, as well as cause Bumblebee some distress.

 _"Stop swerving all over the damn road,"_ Crosshairs had called out when Madeline eventually had enough of Parker's antics, and whipped around to hit him upside the head. Bumblebee reacted to the sudden move by swerving out of pure surprise.

 _"Real mature, guys,"_ was Bee's only response.

As the hours when on, the Autobots soon realized how problematic humans were because of their needs.

Fortunately for them, however, they slept for almost the entire trip after they wore themselves out.

When they eventually made it to Chicago, they spent a generous amount of time driving aimlessly around the city, trying to find a place that could be potentially used as a base.

The trio took turns getting out of the car and walking inside of large buildings that looked abandoned, but none of them seemed large enough to fit all five transformers.

They did however, find a large and empty warehouse that nobody seemed to be using an hour later.

There was a garage on one side of the building, where all the bots drove through and had to have Madeline, Parker and Aira all manually close it. When the Autobots transformed, everyone was relieved that the ceiling was tall enough to even let Optimus stand up straight.

"Well, home sweet home."

* * *

 _"You work on cars, you're skilled with computers, and you were one of the smartest students at your school, yet you work at a coffee shop."_ Drift summarized for himself, looking just about in between confused and disappointed.

"Hey, laziness can take you numerous places." She held up a finger. "Don't be me." Madeline concluded with a laugh.

The crew of Autobots and one human had a bunch of free time on their hands, as they actually arrived to Chicago on the weekend, when KSI was unfortunately closed. Madeline found it weird that such a huge business like KSI would be closed on the weekends, but decided not to question it.

Instead, everyone was milling lazily around the warehouse, trying to occupy themselves just as Parker, Madeline and Aira did when they were stuck at the gas station. Aira and Parker were currently out getting supplies, leaving Madeline with the Autobots. And having nothing to do, she decided to tell the Autobots just a bit about her.

Madeline sat on the single couch cross-legged, and the Autobots either stood or sat in front of her.

 _"Sounds like an excuse to do less work to me,"_ Crosshairs replied flippantly, who was leaning against a wall with his arms crossed.

 _"I'd do that,"_ Hound said almost instantly.

"Oh please Granny Smith, I'm sure you've done something to avoid doing more work in your lifetime." Madeline retorted.

Crosshairs squinted. _"Who's Granny Smith?"_ He asked Drift, lowering his voice.

 _"I have no clue, but I am assuming it is an insult in this context."_ Drift replied just as quietly, looking up at him from his spot on the cold floor.

Madeline rubbed her forehead and grinned, placing her elbow on the arm rest. "I'm talking to you, Crosshairs."

 _"I've known you for like, two days and you're already insulting me."_

"Boo hoo. Granny Smith is a sour apple, by the way."

 _"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"_

"I suppose not. Moving on, let's get serious." Madeline suggested, sitting up straight. "We're all still a little fuzzy about what KSI is doing to your pals, and that's what we intend to find out, however, we'll need to get in without ruckus, which is where I come in." She placed a hand on her chest.

 _"What do you plan on doing?"_ Hound prompted.

"I could perhaps use the stolen drone to scan someone's badge, then use it to get inside." She squinted at something on the wall. "But I feel going in the front entrance is a bit too risky."

 _"What else could you do?"_

"A couple of times a day these guys move vehicle shipments to KSI for something called scanning." Madeline waved her hand. "Lots of security, which is to be expected. Our best shot of getting in would be through the same process."

 _"Sounds dangerous / I'm in!"_ Bumblebee piped up from the other end of the couch.

Madeline grinned at him. "Alright, Bee. I'll take you and Parker with me in Monday. I'll use the drone to record the stuff going on inside, and someone can relay it back to you guys."

 _"Sounds like a solid plan."_ Drift complimented.

 _"Are we going to forget you mentioned something about, what was it, Megatron's bomb?"_ Crosshairs said stiffly, expression leaning towards angry.

"Hey, I told you, I know nothing about it." Madeline snapped. Just from the way Madeline was acting, she could tell she was getting less and less intimidated by the Autobots. "I don't even have the flash drive, I don't even know if the damn things real! For all we know, it could be just a prank."

 _"Doubt it."_ Crosshairs murmured.

"Knock on wood." Madeline sighed.

 _"Why do you want me to knock on wood?"_

"It's for...never mind."

There was a short silence.

 _"Good, now that that's over, why the hell do you work in a café called Blue Bonnet?"_

"Oh my god, Crosshairs."

* * *

When the couple came back to the warehouse, they had a generous amount of supplies that were both necessary and unnecessary, like the protein that Aira got and mouthwash that Parker snatched.

"Protein?" Madeline asked with narrowed eyes, observing the large canister from across the table.

"It's good for us." Aira replied simply, unloading more stuff onto the fairly big table.

Madeline's eyes raked over more items, before it landed on Parker's mouthwash. "Mouthwash? Really?" Her tone implied she was disgusted for a good reason.

"What? I like to be fresh when I'm kissing my girl." Parker said smugly.

On impulse and impulse only, Madeline reached across the table with newfound speed and grabbed the bottle, promptly chucking it across the room. When it hit the ground and slid even further away, Bumblebee made a whirring noise that sounded like laughter. "Say something like that again and I will turn you into the police myself."

"Jesus, okay."

* * *

The rest of the day was pretty quiet and not really awkward, but held the tension of everybody not knowing what to say.

Except at one point Madeline had to reprimand Aira and Parker for cuddling on the couch, and promptly ranted to Optimus Prime about the _"audacity"_ and whatnot and all the other things she had to deal with because of Aira, and Optimus just compared the rebelliousness to Bumblebee's past behavior.

From afar, Madeline saw Bee look up from whatever was occupying him beforehand and squint at the taller transformer with betrayal.

The only real conversation started when Aira and Madeline began talking about their life and how it seemed to change in the drop of a hat over the course of a few days.

"I don't think we'll ever have a normal life, again." Aira said quietly.

"We might," Madeline started hopefully. "If we get the threat resolved, we may be left alone."

"Or we'll stay as transformer-harboring-criminals for the rest of our lives."

"Well, there's that. But, stay positive. We might get out of this."

"How? We're like, involved with mechanical aliens that came from space. This doesn't happen on a daily basis, Madeline."

"Yeah…"

 _"Don't you worry 'bout a thing."_ Bee sang.

"Great advice." Aira replied in a monotone voice. "You're literally a completely different life form; how will this _possibly_ work out."

Bee was silent for a moment. _"Do you believe in miracles?"_

Aira rolled her eyes, but Madeline busted out laughing. "Unbelievable."

"Un-bee-lievable." Parker suddenly piped up, his pun followed quickly by a resounding, _'ow!'_ when Aira smacked him.

* * *

 ** _Well, that's it! I apologize, as it's a bit short. Sorry if there's any mistakes!_**

 ** _Oh, and thank you for the reviews!_**

 ** _Until next time!_**

 ** _-Pastel_**


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